The current state of COVID-19 in the U.S.

Plus more health news | Email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( [Health Matters]( [This COVID-19 surge is the new normal]( By Jamie Ducharme Health Correspondent We’re currently in the second-biggest COVID-19 surge of the entire pandemic, behind only the original Omicron wave, data suggest. But you wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell from how people are acting. I’m writing this in TIME’s office surrounded by coworkers, for example, instead of from my desk at home. It still feels somewhat wrong, at least to me, to live normally at a time when COVID-19 is everywhere. But we’re not where we were in 2020, or even 2022, experts told me. We now have updated vaccines, treatments for people at the highest risk of severe disease, and pretty good population-wide knowledge of when to wear masks, test, and stay home. All of those factors mean we don’t need to let COVID-19 rule our lives, the experts said. But we also shouldn’t ignore COVID-19 (or, for that matter, the many other respiratory illnesses spreading right now). The virus still kills or hospitalizes people every day, and Long COVID remains a risk for everyone. There is more that could be done to protect people from those threats—things like encouraging everyone to get their recommended vaccines, improving ventilation in public spaces, and enacting sick-leave policies that allow everyone to stay home when they’re ill. We’ve come a long way, but there’s still a ways to go. [READ THE REST]( Share This Story WHAT ELSE TO READ [You Can’t Have Healthy People On a Sick Planet]( By Jane Fonda Jane Fonda on how surviving breast cancer helped her understand the impact of climate change on health across the globe. [Read More »]( [Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy Show No Link to Suicide, FDA Says]( By JONEL ALECCIA/AP A preliminary review of their side effects shows no link with suicidal thoughts or actions. [Read More »]( [Can AI Chatbots Ever Replace Human Therapists?]( By Jamie Ducharme And should they? [Read More »]( [Column: No One Knows How to Truly Recover From Illness]( By Gavin Francis 'For all its irritations, frustrations, and humiliations, illness may teach us all something of value,' writes Gavin Francis. [Read More »]( [Need a Break Now? Try Treating Your Weekend Like a Vacation]( By Angela Haupt and Video by Andrew. D Johnson Experts share ways to achieve a vacation mindset at home. [Read More »]( [Exercise May Help You Better Tolerate Pain]( By Haley Weiss Two recent studies point to new ways of addressing and understanding chronic pain. [Read More »]( AN EXPERT QUOTE "People say, 'We had lower levels of infection three years ago and you were saying we needed masks, but you're not saying it now.' We're just in a different spot. The level of immunity in the population is totally different." —Dr. Ashish Jha, former White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, [click here](. Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and edited by Elijah Wolfson. [Want more from TIME? Sign up for our other newsletters.]( [Subscribe to TIME]( TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Connect with TIME via [Facebook]( | [Twitter]( | [Newsletters]( [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS]( TIME Customer Service, P.O. Box 37508, Boone, IA 50037-0508 Questions? Contact health@time.com Copyright © 2024 TIME USA, LLC. All rights reserved.