Through much of the month of April, the United States was in a frustrating position. The number of new cases of the coronavirus had plateaued but remained stubbornly at about 30,000 a day. This lack of a sustained decline has left many public health officials nervous as states began to ease up restrictions on activity.

But with fingers crossed, it should be noted that the month of May has thus far seen a hopeful trend. On May 11, there were 18,600 new cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker. That’s the second straight day that there have been fewer than 20,000 cases — the first time that’s happened since late March. The trend goes back longer than two days, though. The number of new cases has declined for four straight days and has not surpassed 30,000 since May 1.