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Infectious disease specialist says we are in a state of 'I don't know' on COVID-19

Published April 13, 2022 at 1:20 PM EDT
A sign requiring masks as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus on a store front in Philadelphia, is seen Feb. 16, 2022. (Matt Rourke/AP)
A sign requiring masks as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus on a store front in Philadelphia, is seen Feb. 16, 2022. (Matt Rourke/AP)

So where are we on COVID-19?

We know that the more transmissible BA2 variant is now the dominant strain in the country. And that Philadelphia this week became the first city to bring back indoor mask mandates; that the Boston Symphony Orchestra just cancelled its European tour based on virus numbers here and abroad.

But we also know hospitalizations are low and case numbers are a fraction of what they were in late December when omicron peaked.

So how do we interpret all this information? And what can we expect going forward?

Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research at the University of Minnesota, joins Here & Now host Jane Clayson about the state of COVID-19 in 2022.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.