Reuters) - Severe COVID-19 infections are beginning to abate in many parts of the United States even as the death toll mounts, signaling an end to the pandemic’s post-holiday surge and prompting some states to ease public health restrictions. A slow but steady reduction in the number of Americans entering hospitals with the disease has paralleled a choppy rollout of vaccines that also are expected to reduce spread of the coronavirus that causes it. “We’re starting to see the light at the end of the horizon,” New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy told CNN on Wednesday. “I think this is now going in the right direction. It’s slow, admittedly.” About 4,300 Americans died of COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, the third highest daily toll since the first U.S. case was identified almost exactly a year ago on Jan. 20, 2020. The United States, one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, reported a total of 25.31 million cases and 425,120 deaths by day’s end on Tuesday. Concerns remain that new