In the News

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased mask recommendations for the vast majority of the country Friday under a new framework to monitor the coronavirus that immediately affects about 70 percent of Americans — a process that state and local officials had already begun amid demands for a return to normalcy.
 

The guidance comes at a time when many states have already canceled mask mandates or announced they will roll them back soon, when the choice of whether to wear a mask in public settings will in most cases transition to individuals — at least for the time being.
 

While Ukraine is under attack by Russia, Ukraine’s civilian population is also under siege from the coronavirus, a situation only likely to worsen.
 

Other large scale sporting events that have been held since the pandemic began attest to the fact that it can be done, though they've showed the need for caution. No outbreaks thus far have been traced to events such as the Super Bowl or the Daytona 500 last month.
 

U.S. health officials are optimistic, albeit cautiously, the country has turned the corner on the unprecedented wave of infection caused by the omicron Covid variant as new cases plummet 90% from a pandemic record set just five weeks ago.
 

Nearly two years after a state of emergency was first declared in the US, experts still struggle with how to think about long COVID, vaccine effectiveness and more.
 

As omicron cases continue to decline across the region, health departments in the District, Virginia and Maryland have reported new cases of a subvariant strain of the illness, but one expert said it doesn’t appear the newest version of COVID-19 will lead to another spike in cases.
 

Cases, deaths, and hospitalizations have plummeted – but transmission remains high across the nation.
 

Pointing out the logical flaws in mask mandates is easy. Fixing them is hard—and important.
David Dowdy and Tara Kirk Sell are quoted. 

We’ve been at similar junctures before—at the end of the very first surge, again in the pre-Delta downslope. Each time, the virus has come roaring back. It is not done with us. Which means that we cannot be done with it.
Jennifer Nuzzo and Crystal Watson are quoted. 
 

The omicron wave that assaulted the United States this winter also bolstered its defenses, leaving enough protection against the coronavirus that future spikes will likely require much less — if any — dramatic disruption to society.
Andy Pekosz and Shaun Truelove are quoted. 

If you’ve heard people say it’s time to start “living with COVID,” you’re not alone. TheSkimm asked two experts what that phrase actually means, and how we can assess our own risk going forward.