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Nearly three years into the pandemic, top US infectious disease expert said the country is out of pandemic phase but the disease might be entering an endemic phase.
About one-in-three Covid-19 cases in the United States are now caused by the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant of the coronavirus, according to government data on Tuesday that also showed overall infections still declining from January's record highs.
Despite the rise of the extremely contagious sub-variant also seen in other countries, US health experts say a major wave of new infections here appears unlikely.
Fauci on the PBS “NewsHour" on Tuesday that the coronavirus remains a pandemic for much of the world, but the threat is not over for the United States, adding that he was speaking about the worst phase of the pandemic.
"Namely, we don't have 900,000 new infections a day and tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths. We are at a low level right now," he said.
In comments Wednesday to The Washington Post, however, Fauci seemed to clarify his earlier remarks, saying that unlike the “full-blown explosive pandemic phase" during the brutal winter omicron surge, he was describing what appears to be a period of transition toward the coronavirus becoming an endemic disease.
“The world is still in a pandemic. There's no doubt about that. Don't anybody get any misinterpretation of that. We are still experiencing a pandemic," Fauci told the Post.
US Covid infections have receded sharply since January, although a resurgence in parts of Asia and Europe have raised concerns that one will follow in the United States given previous patterns during the two years of the pandemic.
In the Northeast, including New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts, Omicron BA.2 now makes up more than half the cases, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
As of March 19, the seven-day moving average of US Covid-19 cases was 27,747, down nearly 18% from a week earlier.
Most of the country is considered to be in low Covid transmission, according to new CDC guidelines introduced last month that emphasized hospital capacity over case counts. And most people ware advised they no longer need to wear masks indoors.