If this guy finally says it, you know it must be true. Dr. Anthony Fauci said the U.S. is exiting the “full-blown” pandemic phase of the COVID crisis. He said things that limit COVID-19, including vaccinations, medical treatments, and prior infection, will alter the situation significantly in the coming months. He also very uncharacteristically said decisions will increasingly be made at local levels and there’ll be more people making their own decisions on how they want to deal with the virus.

New York’s Governor announced the state will end a mandate requiring face coverings in most indoor public settings. They will, however, keep masking rules in place for schools. Since December 10, masks have been required for grocery stores, shops, and offices. Other Democratic governors have taken similar steps recently.

The CDC says if the Pfizer vaccine gets emergency use authorization for children 6 months to 5 years old, the plan is to initially roll out about 10 million doses, but they’ve secured enough for all 18 million kids in this age group. It’s specially formulated for them. What remains to be seen is the willingness of parents to get their kids of that age vaccinated. So far, the uptake on vaccinations for kids age 5 to 12 has been modest.

The South African doctor who discovered the Omicron strain isn’t impressed with how she was treated. She says she was pressured into describing the variant as more dangerous than it really is. Right out of the gate, she reported mild symptoms for those in her country. But she says she was told by scientists and politicians all over the world that her description was wrong, and she should stop using the word mild.

She’s not alone. A Pew Research study shows Americans are increasingly critical of how elected and public health officials handled the pandemic. 60% now say they’ve felt confused by the inconsistent recommendations. 49% say the CDC is doing a fair or poor job. And positive ratings of public health officials like Anthony Fauci have plunged 10 points since August. 60% think the President has done a fair or poor job on COVID.

In the United States, cases were down 63%, deaths are up 4%, and hospitalizations are down 29% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since January 14.

The five states that had the most daily deaths per 100,000 are Virginia, Mississippi, Ohio, Kansas, and South Carolina.

There are 28,671,117 active cases in the United States.

The areas with the greatest increase in hospitalizations per capita: Montana and Oregon 5%. West Virginia 2%. And Idaho 1%.

The top 10 areas with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Nome Census Area, AK. Scott, TN. Unicoi, TN. Wayne, MS. Monterey, CA. Estill, KY. Overton, TN. Tippah, MS. Perry, KY. And Imperial, CA.

There have been 912,208 deaths in the U.S. recorded as COVID-related.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s been fully vaccinated: Vermont at 79.7%, Rhode Island at 79.6%, and Maine at 77.8%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Alabama at 49.7%, Wyoming at 50%, and Mississippi at 50.4%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 64.2%.

Globally, cases were down 26% and deaths up 23% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since January 25.

There are 74,155,482 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: Germany 238,410. The United States 227,458. Brazil 183,533. Russia 183,103. And Turkey 108,563.

There have been 5,775,363 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.

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