Though only low or minimal flu activity was reported across the U.S. for the week ending Feb. 12, flu hospital admissions increased slightly, according to the CDC's FluView report published Feb. 18.

COVID-19 hospitalization rates among children and adolescents were almost four times higher during omicron's peak than during delta's peak, according to a CDC report.

The omicron subvariant BA.2 has many genetic differences from its parent strain that would warrant it being labeled as a separate variant of concern with its own Greek letter, Japanese researchers said in a study posted Feb. 15 on the medical preprint server BioRxiv. 

After stable numbers for more than a decade, reported Legionnaires' disease cases have been rising since 2003 in the U.S., according to a CDC report released Feb. 17.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Feb. 18 unveiled the next phase of its COVID-19 pandemic response plan, saying it's the first state to detail plans for how to approach the virus as a manageable risk. 

The daily total of patients who acquired COVID-19 while in the hospital hit a record of about 4,700 in January — when omicron peaked — according to an analysis of federal data from The Wall Street Journal.

Soon, no state in the mainland U.S. will have statewide mask mandates, with Hawaii the only state that hasn't announced plans to relax mask requirements, The New York Times reported Feb. 18.

Omicron's high transmissibility has overstretched contact tracing capabilities globally, prompting the World Health Organization to issue interim guidance Feb. 17. 

Immunocompromised Americans have had little voice in the country's pandemic response, and many physicians are only growing more vocal on their behalf.  

Global COVID-19 cases are falling, though a drop in testing may be contributing to this trend, and the omicron subvariant continues to spread, Maria Van Kerkhove, PhD, the World Health Organization's COVID-19 technical lead, said during a Feb. 16 media briefing. 

The CDC is considering a shift to its indoor mask guidance that would rely more on COVID-19 hospitalizations as an indicator of whether masks are needed. 

As COVID-19 cases drop rapidly, deaths have decreased slightly but remain high, with excess U.S. deaths reported since Feb. 1, 2020, surpassing 1 million.

The COVID-19 omicron subvariant BA.2, dubbed "stealth omicron," has spread to at least 74 countries and 47 states across the U.S., according to data from outbreak.info.

Maine added 10,968 COVID-19 cases to it's official count Feb. 15 as it works through a large backlog of  tests, the Portland Press Herald reported. 

Chasing the latest circulating COVID-19 variant with a targeted vaccine isn't a viable pandemic strategy, experts say, instead calling for an Operation Warp Speed approach for the development of a universal vaccine, The Washington Post reported Feb. 15.

People who receive a COVID-19 booster that's a different brand than their primary vaccine series may be better protected against COVID-19, according to a study from Singapore published Feb. 11 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The U.S. could reduce COVID-19 deaths by focusing on one public health strategy that's been largely untapped: encouraging boosters among older adults, The Atlantic reported Feb. 14.

As COVID-19 cases fall and hospitals tiptoe out from yet another surge, the nation is left collectively asking one major question: What comes next?

The effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 boosters drops after about four months, though they still offer significant protection against hospitalization, according to a CDC study conducted during the omicron surge. 

U.S. COVID-19 deaths may remain stable through the end of February, hitting up to 978,000 total deaths, according to ensemble forecasts the CDC published Feb. 7.