Why it matters: The country’s hardest-hit region is getting better, and while that’s obviously a good thing, it shouldn’t provide a false sense of security for other regions, many of which are seeing new cases rise sharply.

The big picture: Take New York and New Jersey out of the picture, and the U.S.’ coronavirus cases aren’t going down. They’re holding steady, or slightly increasing.

The large number of cases in the New York region drove up the national number of cases in the early going, and so it’s no surprise that big decreases in and around New York would also drive nationwide decreases.