New daily deaths due to the coronavirus had fallen below 1,000 for three straight days from Saturday to early Tuesday, the first stretch of lower daily deaths in over a week.

The seven-day average number of new coronavirus deaths in the United States had dropped precipitously since the week ending Aug. 16, when the average was 1,061, according to data compiled by the New York Times. The average number of deaths reported in the week ending Aug. 23 was 968.