Coronavirus cases are continuing to flatten across the country as the U.S. approaches the end of the fourth wave of the pandemic.
On Thursday, officials recorded 157,957 new cases of COVID-19 with a seven-day rolling average of 155,523, which is a 10 percent increase from the 140,567 average reported on August 19.
However, during the same time last month, new infections had spiked by 212 percent over a four-week period.
This means that although the overall number of cases has risen from mid-August, the growth rate has significantly slowed to the lowest since early summer.
Nearly half of U.S. states have seen Covid infections either decline or hold steady over the last two weeks, a DailyMail.com analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University shows.
What's more, hospitalizations have also declined from 101,634 last week to 93,703, a seven percent drop, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
However, deaths are continuing to rise with 3,393 virus-related fatalities recorded on Thursday and a seven-day rolling average of 1,993.
This is a 133 percent increase from the 852 average deaths recorded one month ago and the highest average reported since February.
However, experts say that fatalities are a lagging indicator and often don't start to decline until three or four weeks after cases and hospitalizations do.
Despite one-time hotspots including Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi now reporting declines, a few states are still experiencing surges - including Montana, Tennessee and West Virginia - driven by low vaccination rates.
On Thursday, the U.S. recorded 157,957 new cases of Covid with a seven-day rolling average of 140,567, a 10% rise from the 137,058 average reported one month ago, a decline from the 212% increase in average reported over a four-week period last month
COVID-19 hospitalizations have also fallen by 7% from 101,634 last week to 93,703, according to the HHS
Deaths are continuing to rise with 3,393 virus-related fatalities recorded on Thursday and a seven-day rolling average of 1,993, is a 133% increase from one month ago and the highest average since February
Public health experts and doctors say that the decline is likely due to the fact that country has a high level of hybrid immunity with 180.1 million Americans fully vaccinated and an estimated 120.2 million true infections - although there is high probability of some crossover.
'This is good news,' Dr Arturo Casadevall, chair of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told CNBC.
'It could represent that we have reached a peak and we are now on the way down.'
America has seen various peaks and valleys when it comes to daily average COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.
Average cases reach nearly 32,000 in early April 2020 before declining. Infections rose once again over the summer and peak at 66,800 in July 2020 before dropping.
The deadly third wave then took hold in the fall and the country saw its highest number of average cases ever recorded at 247,500 in mid-January. Cases declined once again until late June, when the Delta variant became the dominant strain.
'Every epidemic goes through cycles and eventually wanes, and that happens when you have enough people who are resistant,' Casadevall said.
But Casadevall warned to not declare
