lot of people have about what do you do with information like that, that case counts are rising? first of all, absolutely right. we would have reacted to this differently a year ago. cases are still important. infections are still important. we want to keep infection numbers low. but they mean something different than they did a year ago. they mean something different because people are vaccinated and boosted. they mean something different because we have a lot more therapeutics available. we have to change our behavior and respond in a different way as the pandemic evolves. i think at this point responding with care and caution but not overreacting is critical. one of the ways we have changed our behavior, thanks to a federal court ruling this week, is there are no mask mandates on planes, on trains, on buses. you mentioned that deaths are at their lowest rates. hospitalization numbers are better. many airlines and transportation systems did follow suit and lift their mandate. so,
close attention. let s see where the next few months ago. i m concerned and we re going to watch the numbers. at this point, i am confident we re going to get through this without disruption. all right. let s bring in professor of emergency medicine an associate dean of public health at brown university, doctor meghan ranny. doctor, ranny, what does he mean? the doctor is planning the best way to proceed? it is aligned with the cdc plan and what we are seeing across the country and globe. thanks to vaccines, boosters, and the original omicron surge, as well as increased availability of treatment, where we are today is so different from where we were in january. much less last fall or last spring. right now case numbers matter, but what matters so much more are hospitalizations and deaths. in my own state of rhode island, we have seen a surge in case numbers for weeks now. but our hospitalization numbers
cases are up in about half of states. hospitalizations are low in the past majority of americans live in low risk areas. how concerned should the average american feel? that s a really good question. if you look across the country infection numbers are low. hospitalization numbers at the lowest level since the pandemic. causing an increase in cases. we will want to watch at very closely. see if it transits to disease. a bit of a lightning round. first philadelphia brought back its indoor mass mandate. do you expect more cities to do the same? i ve always said for two years that these are decisions that should be made at the local level. the cdc has guidance for what local communities should do. some may choose to go down this road and others won t. i think that that is exactly where these decision should be
cases are up in about half of states. hospitalizations are low in the past majority of americans live in low risk areas. how concerned should the average american feel? that s a really good question. if you look across the country infection numbers are low. hospitalization numbers at the lowest level since the pandemic. causing an increase in cases. we will want to watch at very closely. see if it transits to disease. a bit of a lightning round. first philadelphia brought back its indoor mass mandate. do you expect more cities to do the same? i ve always said for two years that these are decisions that should be made at the local level. the cdc has guidance for what local communities should do. some may choose to go down this road and others won t. i think that that is exactly where these decision should be
enjoyable to try and get a 3-year-old to sit still while i stick a q-tip up his nose. that s true. thankfully the rapids are yeah, not as high, which is nice. the rise in cases exactly. there seems to be concern in some folks about it, and the hospitalization numbers, are you worried about the rise in cases? not at the moment. you know, what we are seeing, you know, certainly is the lowest hospitalization rates that we have seen in a long, long time. but case rates are going up. as you know, katy, we are not just going on case rates. we re going on hospitalizations and deaths. that metric is going to be the most important thing the hospital capacity that has the cdc s updated guidance, masking