The summer surge of COVID-19 cases, which began shortly after the Fourth of July and was instigated by the highly transmissible Delta (B1617.2) variant, is showing signs of waning.Yesterday, the nation reported 33,807 new COVID-19 cases yesterday and 279 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 tracker.The 7-day average of new daily cases is 147,356, according to the Washington Post tracker.
In the past week, new daily cases fell 8.5%, hospitalizations fell 4.2%, and deaths rose 5.5%.But despite the sense of a tide turning, the country remains deeply divided when it comes to vaccine mandates and masking in schools, and health officials and government regulators are at odds on how and if to offer booster doses to already vaccinated