unvaccinated americans. the deaths are a lagging cater, and there are encouraging signs. new infections are starting to decline. that may signal the worst is behind us. nationwide, the u.s. is averaging about 650,000 new cases of covid per day, a big number, but 17% drop over the past two weeks. joining me now with more, dr. perry wilson, associate professor at yale university school of medicine. hi, dr. wilson, great to see you. we have been here before, it looked like the worst was over, then came delta, then came omicron. what is your sense of where things are right now? >> i know, the sense of déjà vu is palpable. i appreciate that. i am one of the more optimistic people. we will see deaths increase because they're a lagging indicator. the fact that cases are coming down, and the startling in infectiousness, means that immunity has risen dramatically in the past four to six weeks.