The data presented here are provisional, based solely on the analysis of cases diagnosed through December 31, 1999. Updated data will be published in November 2000, incorporating reports received through September 30 and covering cases diagnosed through June 30, 2000. This additional time will allow the DDASS to submit any pending reports and enable clinicians who may have slowed down their reporting activity to "catch up" on cases they had not yet reported. As of December 31, 1999, the number of people living with AIDS is estimated to be between 21,000 and 23,000, and the total number of deaths since the start of the epidemic between 35,500 and 38,500. The number of new cases was approximately 1,800 per year in 1998 and 1,500 in 1999, indicating a slowdown in the decline in annual cases observed in 1997. The number of AIDS-related deaths, at 700 per year in 1998 and 600 in 1999, also declined less sharply than in previous years.