The number of emergency department visits averaged 1.2 million per week during the period, down from an average of 2.1 million visits during the same period last year, according to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report. The lowest number of emergency room visits occurred during the period from April 12 to April 18, the report said. The striking decline in ED (emergency department ) visits nationwide, with the highest declines in regions where the pandemic was most severe in April 2020, suggests that the pandemic has altered the use of the ED by the public, the report said. Those groups experienced a 72 percent decline and a 71 percent decline in emergency room visits, respectively. Additionally, the data indicate that emergency room visits declined 37 percent among males during the four-week period compared to the prior year and 45 percent among females.