Coronavirus Watch: A 'messy' moment in understanding the pandemic
Five times in the last two years, coronavirus cases spiked in Europe a few weeks before they climbed in the United States.
Now, cases are rising again in at least a dozen European countries from Finland to Greece. And they're skyrocketing in South Korea, Hong Kong and parts of mainland China.
So what does that mean for the U.S.? Researchers say they're not yet sure if we're heading for another tsunami of cases or just a bit of a bump.
Read more from reporter Karen Weintraub here.
Don't forget: You can order an additional round of free COVID-19 tests from the federal government here.
It's Monday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news to know at the start of your week:
- The BA.2 variant appears to be on its way to becoming the dominant coronavirus strain, having roughly doubled each week for the past month, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Hong Kong will lift its ban on flights from nine countries at the beginning of April and will cut the required quarantine time after overseas travel from 14 to 7 days.
- Shanghai Disney Resort closed Monday until further notice after China saw its worst COVID-19 outbreak since March 2020.
See our COVID-19 resource guide here. See total reported cases and deaths here. On vaccinations: About 77% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 65% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
– Cady Stanton, Paste BN digital editor fellow, @cady_stanton