Solving COVID: May 5, 2021

Biden's ambitious new goal, what experts say about herd immunity, and more

A vaccine.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

1. Where things stand

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic is as bad as it has ever been, with a seven-day average of more than 800,000 new cases and 13,000 deaths per day reported. But in the U.S., the "number of reported infections dropped to its lowest point in seven months" on Tuesday, The Washington Post reports. For the first time in 208 days, the daily average of new infections in the U.S. dropped below 50,000. And the last time the average death toll was as low as it is now, about 725 deaths per day, was in October. Public health experts attribute America's declining numbers to the relatively high vaccination rate, but warn that if new variants take root before enough people are vaccinated, the numbers will start rising again.

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