People walk past a pet supplies shop in Washington, D.C., the United States, March 5, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

Though key indicators in the United States have dropped recently, the baseline level of new cases remains high. Top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci warned, "The baseline level of coronavirus cases needs to fall further before the country can confidently resume normal activities, even as the vaccine rollout accelerates."

WASHINGTON, March 6 -- The United States continues to see a decline in new COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations as more than 85 million vaccine doses have been administered.

Key indicators of COVID-19 transmission in the United States have continued to fall since early January.

A total of 66,481 new cases and 1,840 new deaths were reported on Thursday, according to the data updated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday.

The seven-day average of newly reported cases declined for 43 consecutive days since Jan. 11, CDC data show.

There has been an overall decline of 74.9 percent of the seven-day moving average since the highest seven-day average of 249,360 on Jan. 11.

Meanwhile, the seven-day average of new deaths has declined by 43.1 percent since Jan. 13, according to the CDC.

Hospital admissions of patients with confirmed COVID-19 decreased 67 percent from the national seven-day average peak of 16,540 admissions on Jan. 9 to a seven-day average of 5,490 admissions on March 2, CDC data show.

The average number of daily admissions fell by 14.8 percent this week compared to the previous week.

Though key indicators have dropped recently, the baseline level of new cases remains high.