As COVID-19 cases in the United States continue to fall after the Omicron variant fueled a rapid surge, Biden administration officials said Wednesday that the country is moving into a period when the virus “isn’t a crisis,” and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may soon change its recommendations.
Citing at-home tests, masks, treatments for COVID-19, and the fact that about 75 percent of US adults are fully vaccinated, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said during a press briefing that Biden administration officials are planning for a time when the virus “isn’t a crisis, but is something we can protect against and treat.”
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said Omicron cases are declining and heading in the right direction, though she noted more than 97 percent of counties in the US are still considered to have high or substantial community transition.
“We are all cautiously optimistic about the trajectory we are on,” Walensky said. “Things are moving in the right direction, but we want to remain vigilant to do all we can so that this trajectory continues.”
As the agency considers updating its guidance, Walensky added that hospital capacity and the ability of hospitals to treat people in emergencies needs to be considered as an important metric moving forward. The agency’s new metrics will consider “issues related to cases, certainly issues related to severity of disease and hospital capacity,” Walensky said.
“We are assessing the most important factors based on where we are in the pandemic and will soon put guidance in place that is relevant and encourages prevention measures when they are most needed to protect public health and our hospitals,” Walensky said. “We want to give people a break from things like mask wearing when these metrics are better and then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen.”
In recent days, doctors have voiced support for adhering more strictly to some measures while COVID-19 is surging compared to when case counts are lower.
Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, said in a Twitter thread last week that he imagines masks being used intermittently over the next year. For example, he wrote, a mayor of a city might implement mask measures during a surge in COVID cases next winter to reduce the spread of the virus.
“Masks on as surges start, off during quiet times,” Jha wrote in the tweet. “That’s how many countries do it. And that’s a good approach.”
Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician and associate dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said on Twitter on Tuesday that “what we should do during a surge, is different from during a lull.”
“Actions depend on community [and] individual risk,” Ranney wrote. “Evolving science can [and] should inform choices.”
Even with a potential change to CDC guidance, Walensky said there are still a number of situations in which people should wear masks, including if someone is symptomatic or not feeling well, tested positive for the virus within 10 days, and if you were exposed to someone who has COVID and are quarantining. Masks are also still required in certain settings, like public transportation.
The CDC currently recommends that people wear masks indoors in areas of high or substantial COVID-19 transmission. In recent weeks, multiple states rolled back their mask mandates as COVID-19 cases continued to drop. On Tuesday, Massachusetts loosened its recommendation on indoor masking, now suggesting that among fully vaccinated people, only those at higher risk for the virus should wear masks indoors.
But even as multiple states drop or loosen mask rules, the US is still seeing large volumes of cases and deaths every day.
Walensky said that the current seven-day average of COVID-19 cases stood at about 147,000 cases per day, a 40 percent decrease from last week. The seven-day average of hospital admissions is about 9,500 per day, and the seven-day average of deaths stood at about 2,200 per day, both metrics that have seen declines from the previous weeks.
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have also been declining significantly in Massachusetts after reaching a peak in early January. The level of COVID-19 detected in Greater Boston waste water has continued to drop, falling by about 98 percent from when it reached its highest levels last month, according to recent data.
Amanda Kaufman can be reached at amanda.kaufman@globe.com. Follow her @amandakauf1.