The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and the Omicron variant

South Korea reported 54,122 new Covid-19 cases for Wednesday, setting another record daily increase of Covid-19 cases and surpassing 50,000 daily cases for the first time since the pandemic began, according to data released Thursday by the country’s health agency.

The health agency warned Monday that the number of cases could rise from a daily average of around 35,000 to between 130,000-170,000 by the end of this month, amid a surge of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.  

The total number of confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic stands at 1,185,361, with 282 considered critically ill. The death toll stands at 6,963, according to the KDCA on Thursday.

As of 12am Thursday, 86.1% of the population has been fully vaccinated with 56% of the population having received a booster shot, according to the KDCA.

Washington’s outdoor mask mandate will be lifted on Feb. 18, Gov. Jay Inslee announced this afternoon at a press conference. 

Inslee said the state is entering a transition period as projections indicate a “very steep decline” in Covid cases and hospitalizations as numbers have already begun ticking downward. 

Inslee said it’s not time to lift all masking requirements yet and he plans to share more information after gathering another week or so of data. 

The governor said the state will make a “safe transition” when it’s time. 

“The day to totally remove masks rapidly approaching,” Inslee said. “I did not require masks for symbolism, I required them because they work. Now I believe we’re in a position to transition to a different state.”

Covid-19 hospitalizations are dropping quickly in the United States, but a heavy burden persists, and the nation’s health care workers are exhausted under the strain.

For the first time in more than a month, there are fewer than 100,000 hospital beds in use for patients with Covid-19 nationwide, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. 

That’s a 38% drop from a few weeks ago, when Covid-19 hospitalizations reached a peak of more than 160,000 beds in use at one time.

Despite the promising trends, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, says it’s still too soon to change guidance and loosen Covid-19 prevention restrictions.

Hospitalizations are an important barometer, especially at the local level where decisions are made, she said at a White House Covid-19 Response Team briefing on Wednesday. 

“Cases and hospitalizations are falling. This is, of course, encouraging. And that leads us, of course, to have us look at all of our guidance based on the latest data and the science and what we know about the virus,” she said.

“We’re, of course, taking a close look at this in real time, and we’re evaluating rates of transmission as well as rates of severe outcomes as we look at updating and reviewing our guidance.”

But there’s no “magic number,” Walensky said.

Read more here.

A growing number of states, from New York to California, have announced this week their plans to roll back indoor mask mandates in the coming days. Some others, like Connecticut and New Jersey, are eliminating mask mandates in schools.

Here are the states lifting mask mandates:

The White House has yet to update guidance on mask wearing for the general public, but are urging students, teachers and parents to follow CDC guidelines when making decisions about mask-wearing in schools, regardless of state rules.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that now is not the time to change the recommendations or loosen restrictions aimed at preventing Covid-19.

“Right now, we still have about 290,000 cases every single day, and our hospitalization rates now are higher than they even were at the peak of our Delta surge,” Walensky said. “So in this moment — while we are looking ahead and planning ahead, and we’ll continue to evaluate and follow the science — our recommendations are consistent with encouraging students to wear well-fitting masks.”

See doctor’s reaction to states lifting mask mandates:

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Californians will be granted up to two weeks of sick pay for Covid-19-related absences as Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law on Wednesday, just two days after it was passed.

The new law is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022 and extends grants to businesses that had expired on Dec. 31.

“Businesses cannot thrive in a world that’s failing and that’s why sick leave is foundational,” Newsom said in a news conference Wednesday. “Keeping people healthy, keeping patrons safe is so important.”

Newsom teased upcoming guidance about the use of masks in schools, anticipating that an announcement will come within days, possibly on Monday. 

The state’s endemic plan is expected to be discussed in detail next week, Newsom said, which will outline the criteria for community surveillance along with rules, regulations, and requirements for residents and businesses.

Rhode Island’s governor announced the state will be lifting its indoor mask mandates and proof of vaccination protocols.

The new rules go into place on Friday, Gov. Dan McKee said during a briefing Wednesday afternoon. 

“With our numbers continuing to drop, and having the second-highest vaccination rate in the country, we can safely make this shift, which will also put us in line with other New England states,” he said.

The governor said if the state’s general assembly extends his emergency executive authority for another 45 days, as currently proposed, he would extend the executive order requiring masking in schools until March 4. 

“After that time, school masking policies would be decided by individual school districts, not the state,” McKee said. 

McKee said the March 4 date would give school districts time to plan for a transition and allow parents the opportunity to talk to their local leaders.  

“I also want Rhode Islanders to know that none of these decisions were made in a vacuum,” McKee said. “Our team feels we can safely and confidently take this next step based on decreasing Covid numbers and increasing vaccination rates.” 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki urged students, teachers and parents on Wednesday to follow federal guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when making decisions about mask-wearing in schools, not just local state rules. 

When asked by CNN’s MJ Lee whether students and teachers should follow CDC guidance even if their states do not require masks in those settings, Psaki said “yes.”  

The CDC currently recommends “universal indoor masking by students, staff members, faculty, and visitors” in K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.

“This is where we would advise any American to follow the CDC guidelines,” Psaki added, noting that the CDC is continually reevaluating its recommendations. 

Psaki also made a point to note the difference between state leaders who are permitting local school districts to make their own decisions and those are penalizing them for wearing masks.

Earlier today, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said masks are recommended in areas of high and substantial transmission. “That’s much of the public right now,” she said, also adding that the agency is working to update its guidance on mask-wearing.

When asked by CNN why it has been nearly a month since President Biden has addressed Americans in a public speech, Psaki pointed to the President’s recent news conference where he took questions on the pandemic. 

“The American people can expect to continue to hear from the President on it,” Psaki said. 

Weeks after signing an order aimed at getting Utah state employees to work in school classrooms as substitute teachers amid a wave of absenteeism due to the Omicron coronavirus variant, Gov. Spencer Cox was seen doing just that Tuesday afternoon.  

“Substitute teaching 3 periods of 8th grade history today. Pray for me…😅” the governor jokingly said in a tweet.   

Cox spent his teaching hours at West Lake STEM Junior High School in the Granite School District, according to a news release from his office.  

“Spending time in the classroom gave me even more respect for what our educators do every day. We can’t thank them enough for their skill and dedication, especially their extraordinary efforts during the pandemic,” Cox said.  

Cox isn’t the only governor to help out in the classroom.  

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed up to be a substitute teacher last month too after signing a similar order, CNN previously reported. 

Nearly a dozen health officers in California’s Bay Area will lift universal mask requirements for most indoor settings, starting next Wednesday, according to a joint news release from the San Mateo County manager’s office.

The city of Berkeley and counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano and Sonoma will only require masks for anyone who is unvaccinated and over age 2, according to the release. 

State health officials announced Monday that the state indoor mask mandate will expire on Feb. 15. 

Masking is still required for everyone, regardless of vaccination status, on public transportation, congregate settings, long-term care facilities, childcare settings and K-12 schools. 

Local health departments can relax their mask mandates in accordance with the state or keep stricter guidelines.

In nearby Santa Clara County, health officials announced Wednesday in a news release that it will lift indoor mask requirements when the seven-day average of new cases is 550 or below and when “COVID-19 hospitalizations in the jurisdiction are low and stable, in the judgement of the health officer.”
The county has met the vaccination metric that would trigger mask requirement changes: 80% of all county residents are fully vaccinated. Currently, the seven-day average is 1,922 cases per day and hospitalizations continue to remain high. The health officer anticipates lifting indoor mask requirements in a matter of weeks, said the release. 

Similarly, the Golden State’s most populous county, Los Angeles, will change mask requirements for indoor spaces when transmission is under 50 cases per 100,000 people, or when vaccines are available for at least eight weeks for children age under age 5. Either of those two guidelines along with no reports of significant circulation of new variants will prompt a requirement change. The “post-surge” threshold for the county is triggered when daily hospitalizations drop below 2,500 for seven consecutive days. Once that happens, masks will no longer be required at outdoor spaces including mega events, childcare facilities and K-12 schools. 

The state has not yet announced any changes to masking guidance for schools but said adjustments to policies will be shared in the next few weeks.

Truck drivers are finding alternate routes along the US border with Canada as protests against Canada’s Covid-19 regulations continue for a second week. 

“They’re avoiding the interstate and bridges and actually coming through the backroads to get closer to the bridge,” James Freed, city manager for Port Huron, Mich., told CNN.

The Ambassador Bridge, which links Detroit and Windsor, Canada, remains closed to traffic on the US side.

James Lake, Michigan Department of Transportation’s north region communications representative, said that “traffic is not currently moving into Canada,” as the “I-75 exit ramps to Canada are currently closed.” 

“MDOT is monitoring traffic flow and operations, and our focus is on communicating to the traveling public about closures so drivers can make decisions,” Lake said. “We are directing traffic to the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, which is open, or the Windsor Tunnel for non-truck traffic.” 

The Canada Border Services Agency reported wait times of more than four hours Wednesday morning at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron.  

“The problem is we’re a smaller Midwestern community,” Freed said. “We were never designed to have thousands of truckers showing up to our city all at once. So it’s significant congestion blocking up our downtown.” 

Freed said the truckers in his community are not protesters. 

“These are truck drivers who are legitimately trying to traverse the border, supply our factories and continue with commerce,” he said.

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Scotland Yard said on Wednesday that it is reviewing its assessment that a Christmas quiz at Downing Street on Dec. 15, 2020 did not meet the threshold for criminal investigation after an image surfaced of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson near a bottle of champagne, according to a statement from the Metropolitan Police. 

The news comes after a new photo emerged on Wednesday, published by The Mirror, seemingly showing Johnson gathering with others in an office setting, with a bottle of champagne, while the country was under a strict lockdown. 

The gathering was not included in the list of events published on Jan. 31 as being investigated by the police, but it was mentioned by senior civil servant Sue Gray in her findings to the Downing Street inquiry. 

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement Wednesday: “The MPS previously assessed this event and determined that on the basis of the evidence available at that time, it did not meet the threshold for criminal investigation. That assessment is now being reviewed.” 

On Jan. 25, the police announced it was investigating a “number of events” that took place at Downing Street and Whitehall in the last two years in relation to potential coronavirus regulation breaches. 

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) spokesperson said the US-Canada border at Coutts, Alberta, remains inaccessible after truckers moved additional vehicles to block the highway on Tuesday evening.

The protesters in Coutts are part of a group of truckers across Canada that have successfully blocked major border crossings in protest of Canada’s mandate requiring that trucker drivers be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or face strict testing and quarantine requirements.

Fraser Logan, spokesperson for the RCMP in Alberta, said that vehicles were moved onto Highway 4, completely blocking access to the border, around 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday.

“Protesters moved in 10 farm tractors and three passenger vehicles,” Logan said, describing the situation as fluid. 

In a Tuesday evening press conference, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki had touted the dwindling number of truckers present at the protests as progress towards breaking the blockade. He said that was through successful conversations with the protesters over the almost two-week-long blockade.  

Part of the success, Zablocki said, was convincing truckers to allow a lane of traffic to open in either direction towards the border.

Logan did not have any information as to what may have led the truckers to bring in the additional vehicles and completely shut down roadway access. However, Logan did confirm that the RCMP in Alberta is continuing to talk to towing companies about moving the trucks.

According to Department of Transportation statistics, roughly 150,000 trucks pass through the Sweet Grass-Coutts border crossing each year. The nearest border crossing to the east adds about two hours of travel to a trip; the nearest border crossing to the west adds about an hour travel to a trip. 

Zablocki said the protests started in Coutts 12 days ago with over 250 truckers, but as of Tuesday evening, that number has dwindled to around 50.  

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul acknowledged there is a possibility that mask mandates in school may be lifted in the second week of March.

She was asked at her Covid-19 briefing Wednesday if she envisions schools lifting mask mandates by March 7 if metrics stay basically where they are now — and there is “barely” any uptick by March 4. Hochul said:

“That is a very strong possibility but … I will factor all the data that’s gathered during that week, [and] look at everything else I’ve mentioned as well as global trends.”

The governor added she wants to make sure there is thoughtful guidance on “what could re-trigger the institution of this again,” adding “hopefully, never again but we have to be realistic; this has not been declared over, this pandemic is still with us.”

When asked about the varying decisions on school masks from leaders in the tri-state area — the New Jersey and Connecticut governors — Hochul said “we’re very close” in terms of their various approaches. Hochul maintained the state will continue to make data-driven, metric-driven decisions. 

The Denver Department of Public Health & Environment announced Wednesday it will lift its mask mandate in schools and childcare facilities on Feb. 25 at 11:59 p.m. MT. 

The department cited “a significant drop in COVID-19 cases in Denver and the metro area” as well as high vaccination rates among children ages 5 and older.    

The city’s indoor face covering order expired last week, CNN previously reported.

“I want to thank all the students, teachers and staff who have done the right thing to protect themselves and one another from Covid-19 by following public health orders and getting vaccinated,” Mayor Michael B. Hancock said in a press release. “Based on the current data, and the efforts of our residents, this is a step we can take at this time. We are supportive of any additional measures our schools put in place, as needed, to continue in-person learning.”

The department said it plans to announce more information on quarantine and isolation guidelines later this week as well.

People should not delay getting a mammogram due to a recent Covid-19 vaccination, according to a new study.

Mammograms picking up swollen lymph nodes, also known as lymphadenopathy, after vaccination is common, according to a study in the journal Radiology published Tuesday. Swollen lymph nodes following a vaccination are a short-term, harmless sign the vaccine is working.

The swollen lymph nodes were noticed after Covid-19 vaccines were rolled out, but they can occur after other vaccinations too, such as a flu shot or shingles vaccine. Some doctors suggested that women who recently got vaccinated and had swollen lymph nodes may want to wait a few weeks before getting a mammogram, while others said it’s important not to skip or delay mammograms or vaccinations.

“It is important for people to know that they should not delay their screening mammograms due to recent vaccination. Reactive lymphadenopathy is common after COVID-19 vaccination — and benign,” study author Dr. Stacey Wolfson said in a statement.

In the study, 537 of the 1,217 patients that received Covid-19 vaccination and underwent breast imaging had lymphadenopathy. The swollen lymph nodes were found in 46% of the patients that received the Moderna vaccine, 38% of those that took the Pfizer vaccine and 39% of those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.  

The swollen lymph nodes were most commonly seen in the first two weeks after vaccination, but can persist much longer.

“I was surprised by how quickly the lymph nodes became swollen and how long they persisted after being detected on routine screening mammogram and screening ultrasound exams,” Wolfson said. “We found benign reactive lymph nodes were still present despite delaying the screening exams for four to six weeks based on various guidelines. These lymph nodes were unchanged with follow up exams at three months, and some enlarged lymph nodes persisted for over 10 months.” 

Wolfson said follow up imaging in patients with swollen lymph nodes is not recommended unless there are other suspicious mammographic findings.

Recent declines in Covid-19 case numbers and hospitalization rates across the United States has led the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to review guidance on mitigation measures, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a virtual White House briefing Wednesday.

“We certainly understand the need and desire to be flexible,” Walensky said Wednesday.

“Cases and hospitalizations are falling. This is, of course, encouraging and that leads us of course to look at all of our guidance,” Walensky said. “At this time, we continue to recommend masking in areas of high and substantial transmission. That’s much of the public right now.”

Walensky added later in the briefing that the agency is working to update its guidance on mask-wearing.

“We are working on that guidance. We are working on following the trends for the moment,” Walensky said, adding that even though hospitalizations and death rates are still high, “we are encouraged by the current trends.”

When pressed in a follow-up question by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins if Americans should follow guidance from the CDC or that of governors — like Phil Murphy of New Jersey, John Carney of Delaware, or Kathy Hochul of New York, who’ve announced rollbacks of some indoor mask requirements in their respective states — Walensky said decisions would continue to be made “at the local level.”

“As I understand it, in many of these decisions, are using a phased approach — not all of these decisions are being made to stop things tomorrow, but they’re looking at a phased approach. And so, what I would say is again, they have to be done at the local level,” Walensky said, adding she was “really encouraged” by the decline in cases and hospitalizations and that the CDC was still “working on our guidance,” with respect to masks.

The White House offered some additional details on its efforts to prepare to vaccinate children aged six months to five years, pending the US Food and Drug Administration’s authorization and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation.

Data on Covid-19 vaccine efficacy for this age group has been submitted to the FDA and its advisory committee will meet next Tuesday, Feb. 15. 

Since the vaccine is specially formulated for this age group, White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters Wednesday, the administration is “launching a new program specially for kids under five,” for which the planning process is “well underway.”

The CDC is working with states to help them prepare and the US has procured enough vaccine supply, as well as special needles, syringes, and kits, to vaccinate this young age group.

“We’re working closely with pediatricians and family doctors and children’s hospitals and pharmacies to make sure the vaccine is available at thousands of locations across the country — locations that parents know and trust,” Zients said, adding that the vaccines will be packed and shipped “once FDA makes its decision.”

More context: As CNN reported last week, there is some hesitancy among parents of this age group. A January Kaiser Family Foundation poll of a nationally representative sample of 162 parents released last week found only 3 in 10 parents say they’ll get their child under 5 vaccinated against Covid right away. Zients said the administration will focus on local messengers to combat hesitancy.

“There are parents that do have questions and we need to answer those questions. And we’ve learned through our efforts across the last year that the best messengers are local messengers, local community groups and leaders, doctors and other health practitioners. So we are working closely with HHS (the US Department of Health and Human Services) to line up that group and make sure that they have the materials that they need, training they need to be able to answer the questions that parents have about getting their kids vaccinated,” he said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, added that the FDA’s decision will be “based on the scientific data of both safety and efficacy.”

New York state will make an assessment on mask-wearing in schools after reviewing student Covid-19 test results in the first week of March following the next school break, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.

“After the break, after we’ve had kids tested, we are going to make an assessment that first week in March based on all the metrics I’ve described to you and look at that combined picture,” she said.

Hochul met with various educational leadership in a virtual closed press meeting Tuesday.

“We solicited their input, their advice and I believe they felt comfortable with this approach — that it is not reactive, it is thoughtful, it is based on everything we have been doing since day one and we’ve done it successfully,” the governor said.

The state has amassed more at-home test kits than any state in the nation, Hochul said, and they will be given to families prior to the school break. 

Most students are expected to return to school on or about February 28, she said.

“After this break, parents will have test kits for their children, we want them to test the day after they come back and again three days later and let the school know if your child tests positive, keep them home, but by that Friday, just a few days after the children come back, we’ll be able to look at those numbers,” and other metrics, she said. 

Hochul said the state is also working to make sure the schools know what to do in potential future circumstances wherein the masks come off, and a student tests positive – guidance of which has not yet been developed by other state or federal partners.

The White House continued to suggest that it is looking ahead to a time when Americans can get back to normal after nearly two years of Covid-19 protocols, but offered scant details on what that would look like and when it could be announced. 

With cases and hospitalizations trending downward, White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday that fighting the Omicron surge of coronavirus remains “priority number one,” and indicated that there has been some outreach to governors and other public health officials on the next steps. 

“The President, as I just mentioned, has been clear that we’re moving toward a time when Covid won’t disrupt our daily lives — a time when Covid won’t be a constant crisis — so we’re no longer fearing lockdowns and shutdowns, but getting back to safely doing what we all love. In doing so, we will rely on the powerful set of tools that have been developed: the vaccines, the booster shots, treatments, and testing,” Zients told reporters.

In a rare and notable moment, Zients directly named Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. CNN reported earlier this week that Becerra is seeking to take a more public-facing role.

“For the last several weeks, we’ve been working closely with Secretary Becerra, our team of doctors, and the White House Covid response team, under the President’s leadership, is reaching out to governors and outside public health experts and doctors and local public health officials on steps we should be taking to keep the country moving forward,” Zients said.

Zients acknowledged that some places have experienced cases falling more significantly, and that will lead to “different approaches and different timing.”

But overall, officials at Wednesday’s briefing offered no specific benchmarks or metrics for how or when the administration will shift away from its crisis footing as some governors, including Democrats, have moved toward lifting restrictions. 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is lifting the statewide mask-or-vaccine requirement for indoor businesses on Thursday, leaving counties, cities and businesses to “make their own decisions on what they want to do with respect to mask or the vaccination requirement.”

“Given the declining cases, given the declining hospitalizations, that is why we feel comfortable to life this in effect tomorrow,” she said.

The emergency temporary measure was put in place two months ago and was set to expire tomorrow, she reminded. 

“We want to make sure that every business knows, this is your prerogative. And individuals who want to continue wearing masks, continue wearing masks,” the governor said.

The statewide mask requirement is still in effect at state regulated health care settings, state regulated adult care facilities and nursing homes, correctional facilities, schools and childcare centers, homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, and on transit including busses, trains, subways and their stations as well as on planes and in airports.

These are concentrated areas and areas where people are more vulnerable, she explained.

See her tweet:

Massachusetts will lift its mask mandate for schools and childcare settings on Feb. 28, according to a press release from the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

“The decision was made in consultation with infectious disease physicians, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and other medical experts. Vaccinations are the best protection against COVID-19, and Massachusetts has among the highest vaccination rates of young people and is a national leader in overall vaccination,” the release states.

Gov. Charlie Baker discussed the decision to lift the mask mandate during an ongoing press conference Wednesday morning. 

“We’ve learned a lot about how safe schools are and how to keep kids in class learning over the course of this pandemic,” Baker said. “We have far more tools available to us to deal with the pandemic than we had back at the beginning.”

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview Tuesday that he hoped Covid-19 restrictions would end soon due to increasing vaccination rates and more treatment options.  

“As we get out of the full-blown pandemic phase of Covid-19, which we are certainly heading out of, these decisions will increasingly be made on a local level rather than centrally decided or mandated,” Fauci, who is also the White House chief medical adviser, told the Financial Times.

While Covid-19 deaths continue to hold steady this week, US Department of Health and Human Services data recently showed that Covid-19 hospitalizations dropped below 100,000 for the first time in more than a month with a rapid decline in new cases. 

Fauci’s comments indicate a possible shift of decision-making to local officials rather than the Biden administration as infection rates continue to fall after the Omicron surge. He also told the Financial Times that he believes the end of Covid-related restrictions, including mask mandates, will likely happen this year, with the caveat that they may be reinstated temporarily should outbreaks occur.

As more states announce plans to drop mask mandates, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said cases and hospitalizations are still too high to relax Covid-19 recommendations.

While Fauci doesn’t believe the virus will be eradicated, he said he hopes “we are looking at a time when we have enough people vaccinated and enough people with protection from previous infection that the Covid restrictions will soon be a thing of the past.”

An ensemble forecast from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Wednesday predicts more than 61,000 additional people could die from Covid-19 over the next four weeks.

This is the third week that deaths are predicted to have a stable or uncertain trend after predicted increases since late December. 

The CDC included projections that indicate the number of deaths per week will plateau in the next couple of weeks and then begin to decline.  

The forecast predicts that there could be a total of 942,000 to 978,000 deaths reported by March 5.  

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, Covid-19 has killed more than 900,000 people in the United States. 

The forecast could mean an average of 2,576 Covid-19 deaths a day, up from a current average of 2,481 per day, according to JHU data. 

Hospitalizations: For the third week, hospitalizations are predicted to decrease, with 1,000 to 11,800 new confirmed Covid-19 hospital admissions likely reported on March 4. There are currently 104,090 people hospitalized with Covid-19, according to US Department of Health and Human Services data. 

Cases: The forecast for cases again did not predict an increase or decrease or give a predicted number of cases. 

“Recent case forecasts have shown low reliability,” according to the CDC. “Therefore, case forecasts will continue to be collected and analyzed but will not be summarized until sustained improvements in performance are observed.” 

Protests against Canada’s Covid-19 regulations remain ongoing Wednesday morning. 

The Windsor Police Service in Ontario, Canada, said about 50 to 75 vehicles and 100 protesters were on roadways near Ambassador Bridge, which connects Detroit and Windsor, Canada, as of 9 a.m. ET Wednesday.

Constable Talya Natyshak told CNN via email that drivers can still access the bridge, despite heavy traffic and blocked roadways. 

“The Windsor Police Service continues to encourage the organizers of the demonstration to maintain an open line of communication with us,” Natyshak said. “The Windsor Police Service wants to resolve this situation through the use of diplomacy and negotiation, seeking a solution that is safe and sustainable for our community.”

More background: The so-called “Freedom Convoy” began at the end of January in Ottawa as an objection to a vaccine mandate requiring truckers entering Canada to either be fully vaccinated or face testing and quarantine requirements. Other protesters then joined to rail against mask mandates, lockdowns, restrictions on gatherings and other Covid-19 preventative measures. 

The protests, which have seen demonstrators leave trucks idling on roads, have infuriated politicians and business owners, with some in downtown Ottawa complaining about financial losses.

“Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy, and our fellow citizens’ daily lives. It has to stop,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in parliament on Monday, the same day the bridge was obstructed by demonstrators. 

The protesters’ demands do not reflect the majority view in Canada, which has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, with about four in every five Canadians fully vaccinated. Hate crimes have soared since the protests started in Ottawa, and a dedicated hotline has been established in the city following reports of anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic acts at the demonstrations.

CNN’s Tara John and Isabelle Jani Friend contributed reporting to this post.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wouldn’t say when the federal transportation mask mandate could be lifted, as governors in multiple states are relaxing masking rules.   

“A hospital is not the same as a school, school is not the same as a bar, and a bar is not the same thing as a plane,” Buttigieg told CNN’s Jim Sciutto in an interview Wednesday, saying there are “different considerations” for different places. “When we have the guidance saying that is the right thing to do, I will be as relieved as any traveling American that we can move on to the next phase.”  

Buttigieg spoke after multiple Democratic governors eased school masking requirements in their states on Monday, and as two more Democratic governors are expected to lift some masking rules on Wednesday. 

The rule is linked to a number of outbursts and violent incidents onboard planes. Federal Aviation Administration data show more than 60% of the 323 unruly passenger incidents on aircraft this year involved masks. Crews reported 4,290 mask-related incidents last year, according to the data.

Buttigieg said transportation officials are “always considering what makes sense” around the policy, which requires masks on mass transportation like planes, trains and buses, as well as in transportation hubs like airports. 

The latest extension of the rule is in place through March 18. 

Most of America’s schools have now returned to daily in-person learning, but it was far from an easy year for students, their families, teachers and staff. Parents fought at school board meetings, caught in the crosshairs of left-right politics. Some districts face severe staff and teacher shortages.

Miguel Cardona, 46, has found himself as the nation’s top schools chief at a time of unprecedented tumult. He’s been tasked with guiding the country’s schools to stay open and helping them use billions of federal relief dollars effectively — while the power to make those decisions lies primarily with state and local leaders.

Families are still struggling to juggle temporary school shutdowns and adhere to Covid-19 testing and isolation rules at their kids’ schools. This was especially the case after the winter break, when thousands of schools returned temporarily to remote learning or delayed reopening due to the surge in cases and teacher absences.

After an extremely challenging two years, some parents are losing trust in the public school system. About one-third gave their schools grades of C, D or F on how they’re addressing learning challenges related to the pandemic and providing mental health supports, according to a November survey. Several of the nation’s larger public school districts have seen a drop in enrollment.

“We’re all tired. We’re tired of masks. But for me it’s been really clear that our schools not only have to reopen but need to reimagine and do better than they even were before the pandemic,” he said.

Read the full story here.

The number of hospital beds in use for patients with Covid-19 has dropped below 100,000 for the first time in more than a month, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. 

There are 99,925 current Covid-19 hospitalizations, which is a 38% drop from the peak of more than 160,000 from about three weeks ago. 

Overall, about one in seven inpatient beds are currently in use for Covid-19. There are about 18,000 Covid-19 patients in intensive care units around the country, according to HHS data. 

Hospitalization rates are highest right now in West Virginia, Kentucky and Alabama – each with more than 50 Covid-19 hospitalizations for every 100,000 residents. They’re lowest in Vermont and New Hampshire, each with less than 15 hospitalizations for every 100,000 residents. 

In December, hospitalization rates were 16 times higher among unvaccinated adults than they were among fully vaccinated adults, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among seniors age 65 and older, hospitalization rates were 51 times higher among the unvaccinated than among those who were fully vaccinated and boosted. 

Since the start of the pandemic, nearly 4.4 million people have been hospitalized with Covid-19, according to CDC data. In the first week of February, there were about 13,000 new Covid-19 admissions each day.

Here’s a look at how US hospitalizations have changed over time, according to HHS data:

Professor Alain Fischer, France’s top vaccine strategist, told lawmakers Wednesday that the Covid-19 situation in the country could permit scrapping the country’s vaccine pass by the end of March.

Fischer said that for the vaccine pass to be removed, France would need an incidence rate that is “10 or 20 times less than today” and that hospitals can no longer be overburdened.

“That can change quickly,” said Fischer, the chairman of the French vaccine strategy advisory board. “We should get there by the end of March, beginning of April.”

France’s vaccine pass law requires people to have proof of full vaccination to access a wide range of everyday activities, like visiting restaurants and bars as well as long-distance public transport between regions.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday regarding the Covid-19 situation, government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said, “The situation improves before us and allows us to look forward with a certain optimism.”

“There is the beginning of an improvement in the situation in hospitals,” Attal said, adding that the removal of the vaccine pass could also be followed by new rules on wearing masks. Currently, masks are required in all indoor public spaces in France, including on public transportation.

More background: As of Tuesday, there were more than 33,000 Covid-19-linked hospitalizations in France, compared to fewer than 7,000 in early November, ahead of France’s 5th wave of coronavirus, according to Public Health France.

France recorded 235,267 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, according to the latest data from Public Health France. The number of cases has been falling gradually since its all-time peak of more than 500,000 cases on January 25.

Attal said that the National Health Council will provide new advice Thursday regarding Covid-19 regulations in schools, which he expects to move towards an easing of rules, including regarding mask-wearing and testing of contact cases.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has signaled an early end to all coronavirus restrictions in England, including the legal requirement to self-isolate for positive Covid-19 cases.

Johnson said he would present the government’s strategy “for living with Covid” when Parliament returns from a short recess on Feb. 21.

“Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions — including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive — a full month early,” Johnson said. 

The requirement for those who test positive for coronavirus to self-isolate is currently due to expire on March 24. Under the current regulations in England, people have to isolate if contacted by the National Health Service’s contact tracers and must provide their addresses and names of people in their household.

In the past day, the United Kingdom recorded 66,871 new coronavirus cases and 317 deaths, according to the latest Johns Hopkins University data. 

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is expected to announce Wednesday a plan to roll back the state’s Covid-19 indoor mask mandate in most public places.

In the days leading up to his 3 p.m. scheduled news conference, the governor has alluded to changes to the mask policy, telling reporters asking about the mandate Tuesday at an unrelated news conference:

“I think I’ve said over the last few press conferences that I really believe that we ought to be looking seriously at how to ratchet that back. I think we’re going to be making announcements very soon about that.”

CNN has reached out to the governor’s office for more information. 

CNN affiliate WLS, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun Times all reported that while the governor will likely announce a path for ending the mask mandate in most public places, his administration plans to keep masks on in schools for the time being.

At a news conference Monday, Pritzker said he asked the state’s attorney general to work to get a circuit judge’s temporary restraining order overturned that blocked schools from enforcing portions of Pritzker’s school-related Covid mitigation policies. 

Pritzker’s expected rollback of masking requirements in most public places, comes as the Omicron wave that swept across the US in the last few months has started to recede in most locations, prompting many state officials to pull back on Covid-19 mitigation measures.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to end the state’s indoor mask mandate for businesses Wednesday, three people briefed on the decision told the New York Times.

The Omicron variant now accounts for 100% of Covid-19 cases in the United States, according to data published Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The latest estimate of variants circulating in the US captures samples that were sequenced between Jan. 30 and Feb. 5 nationwide.

A newer subvariant of Omicron, the BA.2 lineage, is estimated to make up 3.6% of new cases, up from 1.2% a week earlier. Regional estimates suggest that this subvariant is slightly more prevalent in Western states, where it represents closer to 5% of new cases. 

The CDC estimates suggest that the Delta variant is no longer present in the US, accounting for no new cases in the most recent week. 

The head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is standing by the agency’s mask guidelines, emphasizing Tuesday that now is not the time to change the recommendations or loosen restrictions aimed at preventing Covid-19.

The CDC “still recommends that all schools encourage students to wear well-fitting masks consistently and while indoors. And that’s consistent with our guidance that still also recommends that people mask in public indoor settings in areas of high or substantial transmission,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a radio interview with WYPR’s Tom Hall on Tuesday’s edition of the show “Midday.”

“Right now, we still have about 290,000 cases every single day, and our hospitalization rates now are higher than they even were at the peak of our Delta surge,” Walensky said. “So in this moment — while we are looking ahead and planning ahead, and we’ll continue to evaluate and follow the science — our recommendations are consistent with encouraging students to wear well-fitting masks.”

A growing number of states, from California to Delaware, have announced this week their intentions to drop indoor mask mandates in the coming days. Some others, like Connecticut and New Jersey, are eliminating mask mandates in schools.

Walensky noted that states and municipalities can determine their own policies.

According to the CDC, 99% of US counties still have high levels of coronavirus transmission. Walensky said she was cautiously optimistic about case numbers dropping from the peak of the Omicron surge but said that at the moment, those numbers are still too high for the agency to consider lifting any mitigation measures.

Read more about Walensky’s comments here.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will end the state’s strict Covid-19 mitigation requirements for businesses Wednesday, three people briefed on the decision told The New York Times.

The mandate requires businesses to ask customers for proof of vaccination or for them to wear masks indoors, except when eating or drinking.

CNN has reached out to Hochul’s office and other stakeholders for comment.

Earlier Tuesday, Hochul said she planned to make an announcement Wednesday regarding mask mandates for businesses, one day before it was set to expire across the state.

The announcement comes as the Omicron wave that swept across the US in the last few months has started to recede, prompting many state officials to pull back on Covid-19 mitigation measures.

Hochul issued the mask-or-vaccine requirement for all indoor businesses in December 2021 as the Omicron variant caused a large increase in Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. That wave of new cases peaked about a month ago and has since receded.

The vaccination or mask requirement for businesses was put in place “when we first saw the early signs of this Omicron could be wildly contagious,” she said.
“It certainly was, and so we put in some protections in place to help our workplaces and help employees and customers,” she said.

Two weeks ago, a judge struck down the mandate, saying the Department of Health did not have the authority to put it in place, but an appeals court judge allowed it to stay in effect.

Other states have started lifting their mask mandates. Oregon’s health department announced the state will remove general mask requirements for indoor public places no later than March 31. School mask mandates will also be lifted March 31, according to CNN affiliate KATU-TV.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state’s indoor mask requirement will expire Feb. 15, though unvaccinated people will still need to wear masks indoors.

Read the full story here.

During the week of Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, global Covid-19 deaths increased by 7% compared with the week before, with just under 68,000 new deaths reported, according to the World Health Organization’s weekly epidemiological update published Tuesday. 

Of the six WHO regions, two reported increases in deaths: the South-East Asia Region with 67% and the Eastern Mediterranean Region with 45%. The Region of the Americas and the European Region reported numbers similar to the week before. The African Region reported a decrease of 14% and Western Pacific Region reported a decrease of 5%

The United States reported the highest number of new deaths, followed by India, the Russian Federation, Brazil and Mexico. 

Overall, as of Feb. 6, over 5.7 million deaths have been reported across the world. 

The number of cases reported across the world decreased by 17%, with over 19 million new cases being reported. 

The Eastern Mediterranean Region reported an increase of 36%, while the other regions reported decreases. The Region of the Americas reported a 36% decrease, the South-East Asia Region reported a 32% decrease, the African Region reported a 22% decrease, the Western Pacific region reported an 8% decrease and the European Region reported a 7% decrease.  

The US also reported the highest number of new cases, followed by France, Germany, Brazil and India. 

There have been over 392 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 reported across the world as of Feb. 6. 

Sweden has gone ahead with plans to lift the majority of its Covid-19 restrictions, the Swedish Health Ministry confirmed to CNN on Wednesday. 

The coronavirus pandemic in Sweden has entered a “new phase,” the health ministry said in a statement Wednesday. “The most important recommendation in the future is that everyone who is 12 years and older be vaccinated against Covid-19.”

Last week, the government announced its intention to lift most restrictions, including an 11 p.m. curfew on bars and restaurants and limits on the size of parties and distance between parties in hospitality settings starting today.

Vaccination certificates are now no longer needed to attend certain public events, attendance limits on public events have been lifted and square meter restrictions applying to trade fairs, shops and cultural and leisure settings have been removed. 

Swedish people are no longer advised to keep their number of social contacts low, and workplaces and universities which have been carrying out remote learning are being advised to return gradually.

Certain limited health measures will remain in place, including guidance for all Swedes over 12 years to get vaccinated, to stay at home and avoid close contact with others if they show symptoms that may be Covid-19, and for unvaccinated adults to show caution in crowded indoor public spaces, the health ministry said.

The relaxation of measures comes after fellow Scandinavian countries Norway and Denmark also announced the lifting of most Covid-19 restrictions earlier this month. 

Sweden initially eschewed lockdowns, prompting criticism of the government and health agency, but then imposed restrictions on public life in the face of high coronavirus case numbers. 

The Swedish government and Public Health Agency of Sweden last week said they deemed the Covid-19 situation “stable enough” to commence the ease of restrictions, justified by the fact that Omicron has not caused “as serious a disease as previous variants” and the country’s intensive care units and general hospital care have not been severely impacted. 

On April 1, all remaining restrictions in Sweden will be removed or “adapted to the prevailing spread of infection,” the government has said. The Covid-19 vaccination recommendation will remain, however, alongside “special recommendations for health and medical care and care environments.”

CNN’s Henrik Pettersson and Niamh Kennedy contributed to this post.

The Beijing Olympic Committee identified five new Covid-19 cases among Olympics-related personnel as of Tuesday, it said in a statement on Wednesday. 

Of the five cases, three were found among new arrivals and two from people already inside the “closed-loop” system, which keeps Olympic athletes, stakeholders and staff separate from the public. 

Three of the five new cases involved athletes or team officials, two of which were already inside the “closed loop.”

Since the “closed-loop” system officially began on Jan. 23, a total of 1,030,210 Covid-19 tests have been administered, and 13,035 Olympics-related personnel have arrived in Beijing, the statement said.