COVID case metrics severely undercount the number of infections, leaving the U.S. with a blind spot as the most transmissible variant yet takes hold.
U.S. health officials have opened COVID-19 vaccines for infants, toddlers and preschoolers -- the last group without the shots.
During this winter's omicron surge, hospitalizations and deaths didn't follow the same steep trend line as cases -- an important shift from earlier waves of the pandemic. There are treatments available, such the antiviral pill Paxlovid, that sharply reduce risk of death or severe disease. And high-quality masks, ventilation, physical distancing and quarantine and isolation can still help reduce spread from any variant, including BA.5.
If 1 in 5 COVID-19 infections results in long COVID and true infections are seven times higher than reported, the number of people with long COVID could be growing by 100,000 each day.For now, the US is in a"sustained management phase," with continued efforts to keep things under control compared with"what was much more of a reactive, emergent -- and emerging -- approach of the past," Plescia said.
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