Almost exactly two years after the COVID pandemic first caused a local, state and nationwide lockdown, the crisis stage of the virus continues to wind down.
The COVID-19 global pandemic has declined differently in different parts of the world, but in the United States, at least, there is reason to believe the end is near.
Cases have been falling for nearly two months, with the U.S. daily average dropping about 40% in the last week alone. Hospitalizations also have plummeted, down nearly 30%. Mask mandates are vanishing — even federal health officials have stopped wearing them — and President Joe Biden has said it’s time for people to return to offices and many aspects of pre-pandemic life.
Two weeks ago, Ted Wynn, director of the Bulloch County Public Safety/Emergency Management Agency, discontinued his weekly update of local COVID conditions because new cases have seen a dramatic fall in the past six weeks.
Fueled by the omicron variant, there were 862 new coronavirus cases reported in Bulloch for the week of Jan. 18–24, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. In the two weeks since Wynn’s last report on Feb. 28, there have been 72 new cases reported locally.
East Georgia Regional Medical Center was treating six COVID-19 patients on Monday, with two on ventilators. That compares with 14 patients on Feb. 28 and three on ventilators.
Moving on from COVID
The world is finally emerging from a brutal stretch of winter dominated by the highly contagious omicron variant, bringing a sense of relief on the two-year anniversary of the start of the pandemic.
It was March 11, 2020, when the WHO issued its declaration, driving home the severity of the threat faced by a virus that at that point had wreaked havoc primarily in Italy and China. The U.S. had 38 confirmed coronavirus deaths and 1,300 cases nationwide on that date, but reality was starting to sink in: Stocks tanked, classrooms started closing and people began donning masks. In a matter of hours, the NBA was canceling games, Chicago's huge St. Patrick's Day parade was scuttled, and late-night comedians began filming from empty studios — or even their homes.
Since then, more than 6 million people have died globally, nearly 1 million in the U.S. Millions have been thrown out of work, and students have endured three school years of disruptions. The emergence of the vaccine in December 2021 saved countless lives, but political divisions, hesitancy and inequality in health systems have kept millions of people around the world from getting inoculated, prolonging the pandemic.
The national and worldwide situation is improving, however.
Hospitalizations of people with COVID-19 have plummeted 80% in the last six weeks across the U.S. since a mid-January pandemic peak, dropping to the lowest levels since July 2021, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Case counts have followed the same trend line to the lowest counts since last summer as well. Even the death tally, which typically lags behind cases and hospitalizations, has slowed significantly in the last month.
Mask mandates, vaccine requirements and other COVID-19 measures are being eliminated everywhere. The last statewide mask mandate in the U.S., in Hawaii, will end in two weeks.
Bulloch County Schools
Bulloch County Schools reported six new COVID cases since Feb. 27.
Georgia Southern University
Georgia Southern University has seen the number of COVID cases drop from the 502 reported across its three campuses the week of Jan. 17–23 to 44 total cases in the past two weeks combined.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.