europe has trended about three to four weeks ahead to have the u.s. in terms of its covid patterns, and in the u.s. we re already seeing an increase in the amount of covid in the waste water which would also signal that we re heading into a surge here as well. reporter: the average daily number of new cases has dropped to about 31,000 per day, down 96% from the omicron peak, although the spread of the new ba2 sub variant is more trance missilable, it isn t more severe than omicron, and vaccines and a prior omicron infection are affective against the new strain. how concerned with you of large gatherings today on st. patrick s day. i think large gathering can be done safely outside and in spaces that are well ventilated. but if you are talking about large gatherings in a crowded indoor bar, i think that could result in a lot of transmission. reporter: and it will take a few weeks before we know if st. patrick s day parties resulted in more covid cases.