We’re currently in the second-biggest COVID-19 surge of the entire pandemic, behind only the original Omicron wave, data suggest. But you wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell from how people are acting. I’m writing this in TIME’s office surrounded by coworkers, for example, instead of from my desk at home. It still feels somewhat wrong, at least to me, to live normally at a time when COVID-19 is everywhere. But we’re not where we were in 2020, or even 2022, experts told me. We now have updated vaccines, treatments for people at the highest risk of severe disease, and pretty good population-wide knowledge of when to wear masks, test, and stay home. All of those factors mean we don’t need to let COVID-19 rule our lives, the experts said. But we also shouldn’t ignore COVID-19 (or, for that matter, the many other respiratory illnesses spreading right now). The virus still kills or hospitalizes people every day, and Long COVID remains a risk for everyone. There is more that could be done to protect people from those threats—things like encouraging everyone to get their recommended vaccines, improving ventilation in public spaces, and enacting sick-leave policies that allow everyone to stay home when they’re ill. We’ve come a long way, but there’s still a ways to go. READ THE REST |
