A new COVID phase
As cases, deaths decline, a new approach to virus management emerges
When Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief science adviser, told PBS’s “NewsHour” last month that he believed the country is “out of the pandemic phase,” it served as a rare buoy in a relentless sea of sickness and despair.
Reference points have been few and far between in this pandemic — reports of the first cases in China, the first U.S. cases, the World Health Organization’s pandemic designation, the administration of the first vaccine — and this, unlike so many others, was welcome news.
Fauci has since walked back that statement somewhat, noting that the virus continues to circulate, that cases overseas remain a worry and that the nation must be vigilant in its efforts to raise vaccination rates and distribute boosters.
Still, despite those real and legitimate concerns, there is a sense — here in Virginia and across the country — that we have entered a new phase of the pandemic, one in which the risk of death has declined and collective immunity has increased.
In most places across Hampton Roads, there are no longer mask mandates or vaccine requirements. There is no longer a threat that emergency rooms and other health care facilities will be overwhelmed. And things continue to look more like the communities we knew before the virus.
Not only are more people than ever vaccinated — 73% of Virginians are fully vaccinated, 82% have had at least one dose — but health professionals are more adept at caring for the infected and have more tools at their disposal to avoid the worst outcomes.
“We’re really in a transitional phase, from a deceleration of the numbers into hopefully a more controlled phase and endemicity,” Fauci told The Washington Post, clarifying his Newshour comments.
Some of that has to do with the highly infectious omicron variant, which swept through the country in late 2021 and earlier 2022. The Centers for Disease Control reported in April that prior to that variant wave, 1 in 3 Americans had endured COVID-19 infection; by April that number was 60%, including 75% of children who had evidence of infection.
What remains unknown is the level of immunity imparted by those infections, and how resilient that immunity will be. What is known is that vaccination remains the best course of protection and, in concert with boosters, helps stave off severe illness and death.
Health officials, including Fauci, are optimistic that the United States can reach what’s called a “control stage” with COVID, which means the management of the virus and working to protect vulnerable populations, here and abroad.
For Washington, that should mean intensifying monitoring and tracking, working with private sector partners to tweak vaccines as needed to protect vulnerable populations, and providing proven, effective resources to communities to improve public health.
For Virginia, that means some of the same: working within existing networks to keep tabs on infections, providing funding and guidance to assist schools and other public facilities in improving things such as air filtration, and encouraging vaccine holdouts to protect themselves and their communities.
And for individuals that means keeping the virus in front of us rather than putting it behind us. It means being flexible about masking and other protective measures should new variants spread, getting boosters as needed and continuing to care about others by masking in high-risk, high-transmission environments.
There are still people in Hampton Roads who remain at greater risk from the virus: the elderly, the immunocompromised, very young children. While state and local officials are unlikely to renew restrictions to protect these vulnerable populations, individuals can and should remember these are our friends and neighbors, coworkers and fellow church congregants. We cannot ignore their situation out of personal convenience.
There are likely to be other strains of COVID-19 to come. We can hope they are as mild as omicron — and ideally less infectious. But we can, and should, celebrate turning a corner and focus on managing the virus smartly and effectively in the weeks and months to come.