Newly reported Covid-19 deaths are starting to decline in the U.S., driven by drops in the Northeast and Midwest, offering the latest sign that the surge fueled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant is fading.

       Cases and hospitalizations have already fallen sharply from record-breaking peaks, including in places like New York, New Jersey and Illinois where Omicron spread widely late last year. Deaths, which tend to follow cases by several weeks, appear to be following the same pattern by declining in the places hit hard early on.

       “I think we’re coming down," said Beth Blauer, the data lead for the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, which compiles pandemic data.

       The seven-day average for reported deaths in the U.S. was 2,212 on Wednesday, Johns Hopkins data show. Earlier this month, that number briefly topped 2,500, the highest level since early last year. Similar numbers tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the average number of deaths has fallen about 9% since last week, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at a briefing Wednesday.

       Mortality data can be choppy, affected in part by reporting delays among the states. Rapidly falling case and hospitalization numbers indicate the recent decline in deaths could accelerate, too. The seven-day average for new cases was about 129,000 on Wednesday, down from a mid-January peak above 800,000, Johns Hopkins data show.

       The fast-falling numbers have led to a flurry of moves to dial back restrictions like mask mandates, many affecting school-age children, in places including Massachusetts, New Jersey and Los Angeles County that maintained restrictions through the recent surge. New York has dropped indoor mask requirements for businesses.

       Though Omicron has shown signs of being less virulent than earlier variants, the record-shattering number of Omicron cases still triggered a surge in deaths.

       The average for confirmed and suspected Covid-19 hospitalizations slid to about 81,800 by Wednesday, federal data show, down about 49% from an all-time high seven-day average above 159,000 reached on Jan. 20.

       In the nine-state Northeast region, the seven-day death average is down about 51% from a late-January peak, a Wall Street Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins data show. Regionally, death numbers for the Midwest are also heading lower.

       “We have some very, very promising numbers on Covid," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday, while highlighting in particular the tumbling case and hospitalization numbers in the state. She noted that case counts have returned to pre-Omicron levels.

       “We still lost 66 New Yorkers yesterday and we look forward to the day that is a zero," the governor said.

       In the South, the average still appears near the peak for the Omicron wave.

       In the West, death counts in California have recently been on the rise, while the data indicate Nevada may have recently crested. This reflects the pace of Omicron’s ramp-up around the country, with some places peaking later than others, Ms. Blauer said.

       At a news conference Monday, California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Mark Ghaly said case numbers and hospitalizations are falling in the state.

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       “We anticipate in the coming weeks that deaths should decline as well," he said.

       The nation’s most populous state has lost more than 80,000 people to the disease, though it has a lower death rate than other large-population states, Dr. Ghaly said. Nationally, the Covid-19 death toll has eclipsed 928,000.

       The first Omicron case was reported in the U.S. on Dec. 1. By Christmas it was the dominant variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.

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