With the peak of the omicron surge in the rearview mirror, the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is dropping. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says last week's seven-day moving average of daily new cases decreased nearly 43% compared with the previous week. But Mayo Clinic COVID-19 experts caution that the number of new COVID-19 cases is still significant.
"It's very encouraging to see the rates come down from the omicron surge. But to put it in perspective, we are still having rates that are among the highest that we had during our delta surge — and really second only to omicron's peak in the pandemic so far. So we are far from out of the woods. COVID is still very much with us right now," says Dr. Melanie Swift, a Mayo Clinic internist and preventive medicine specialist.
As COVID-19 cases drop, some masking mandates across the country are ending and other restrictions are being loosened.
