The U.S. is averaging about 140,000 cases of COVID a day, down 67% from two weeks ago,according to a New York Times tracker, as the surge of cases caused by the highly infectious omicron variant continues to decline from its January peak. The U.S. is averaging close to 100,000 hospitalizations a day, down 38% from two weeks ago. And deaths are finally starting to fall, down 12% to an average of 2,328 a day, still the most since last winter before vaccines were widely available. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told CNBC that the world could be entering the final states of the pandemic. There is an “80% chance that as omicron evolves or SarsCov-2 virus evolves, we are going to see less and less virulent viruses,”Bancel told CNBC in an interview that published Wednesday. But he cautioned that there’s still a 20% chance of another scenario emerging involving a mutation “more virulent than omicron”. Meanwhile, more companies are dropping face mask mandates for workers andCoachella and Stagecoach music festivals will drop all COVID-19 precautions when they are held in April.
Globally, the case tally now stands at 415.7 million while the death toll is above 5.823 million. The U.S. continues to lead the world with 78 million cases and 925,560 fatalities.
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