Analysis

Do I still need to wear a mask? A guide to help you decide. Here’s what we know about the science of masking to help you make decisions about if, when and where to cover your face. Washington Post

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New York City’s neighborhoods have been thriving in the pandemic. Should we redefine ‘comeback’? The New York Times

For several weeks now, Mayor Eric Adams has been obsessively pushing a recovery agenda hinged on the return of tens of thousands of workers to offices in Midtown and Lower Manhattan. But the weekly average of new cases in New York has more than tripled over the last month, confirming the sense that every time we decide that the pandemic is behind us, it reasserts its power to obstruct...

'Youth are in crisis': Mental health of US high school students worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic, CDC survey finds | CNN Mental health concerns among high school students in the United States were exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to survey results published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deidre McPhillips CNN

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COVID cases rise again in half the states While case numbers for the U.S. as a whole are still dropping, a growing number of states have seen their own numbers being to rise again. Tina Reed,Kavya Beheraj Axios

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Half of the states are seeing COVID case numbers rise again while nationwide totals continue to fall.

The big picture: The Omicron subvariant known as BA.2 is the dominant strain circulating around the U.S., accounting for almost three out of every four cases.