New cases up a little, deaths down a little over the past week; everything way below spring peak

We’re still nowhere near the spring peak when the coronavirus first started rampaging across the country. Back then, the highest number of new cases in a day was 77,255, which was before testing was anywhere near as widespread as it is now. We also had a solid month in which every weekday reported new cases of at least 50,000. (Reporting is much less consistent on weekends.)

The week that just passed showed a slight but steady uptick, starting at 44,109 on Monday and rising to 47,153 on Friday. The corresponding week prior to that showed 35,112 on Monday and 44,600 on Friday, so we went in the wrong direction last week on new cases – although not dramatically so.

Deaths, however, are another matter. For the week of August 16, new deaths went from 1,324 on Monday to 983 on Friday. That’s way down from the springtime single-day high of 2,666. For the week of August 23, new deaths went from 1,241 on Monday to 961 on Friday. That’s the opposite of the new cases trend – going in the right direction, although not dramatically so.

Deaths of course tend to be a lagging indicator, so it’s possible that in a few weeks they’re going up again to reflect the slight uptick in new cases. So far that hasn’t been the way the trend has worked in recent weeks, however.

(And I realize “new deaths” is a weird turn of phrase, but it’s simply a way of differentiating from the cumulative total of deaths.)

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Question: With most of the country basically re-opened (not counting gyms and movie theaters in Michigan, ahem), and people mostly masked up in all crowded settings, does the continued low number of new cases mean we’ve got this about as much under control as we can at the moment?

When you’re getting more than 40,000 new cases every day, you can’t say the pandemic is over. And it’s reasonable to suspect we could have another major uptick if we return to crowds at sporting events and concerts. But I wonder, given the state of society right now, if we can expect a continued downward trend over the course of the next several months.

The summer “second wave” (if that’s what it was) never got near the severity of the initial wave, and it already seems to be mostly on the wane.

Here’s one of the reasons I ask: Joe Biden is talking about taking measures in January as if the pandemic is still where it is today. I’ve rather been hoping we’ll be in a much better place by January – regardless of who is taking the oath of office. Does Biden give any consideration to the possibility that COVID-19 isn’t dominating the nation by January 2021?

Or is that thought too horrible for Democrats to contemplate?