Analysis: The US is running a fever. Which way will it go?

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Fri, 2022-05-13 11:10 — mike kraft

The US is running a fever. Which way will it go? This moment in time, like so many during the last two-plus years of the pandemic, is a confusing one for our country. Mixed signals make it hard to accurately gauge risk and act accordingly. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent CNN

(CNN) This moment in time, like so many during the last two-plus years of the pandemic, is a confusing one for our country. Mixed signals make it hard to accurately gauge risk and act accordingly.

On the one hand, with the almost complete lifting of restrictions and mandates around the country, and with case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths at relatively low levels, it's easy to feel that life is on track to getting back to normal, if not already there.

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So which is it: Are we headed back to life as usual or are we headed toward another wave of infections?

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If I had to describe the current situation, I'd say it's like my patient has checked out of the hospital -- a bit weak, still being monitored carefully and receiving outpatient care.

And now, as the rising case numbers indicate, they've spiked a fever, developed a sore throat and are starting to feel all-around miserable.

The big question is, will they get better with time, or is this a harbinger of more bad things to come?

While it's true that the numbers are nowhere near as dire as they were with the Delta or original Omicron surges -- which saw an average of more than 166,000 and more than 807,000 daily new cases at their respective peaks -- these insidious increases in cases and hospitalizations reveal a trendline.

In medicine, trendlines are often more telling than the absolute numbers themselves: They're important to spot because they show us where the patient is headed. And right now, the trendline is moving in a risky direction. ...

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