Covid Is On The Rise, Yet Infections Are Likely Undercounted

NBC News: Incomplete Data Likely Masks A Rise In U.S. Covid Cases
At first glance, U.S. Covid cases appear to have plateaued over the past two weeks, with a consistent average of around 30,000 cases per day, according to NBC News' tally. But disease experts say incomplete data likely masks an upward trend. In Washington, D.C., for example, several high-profile government figures recently tested positive, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, White House press secretary Jen Psaki and Attorney General Merrick Garland. (Bendix and Chow, 4/10)

Bloomberg: Covid-19 Could Be Spreading Undetected In U.S.
The rise of Covid cases in some regions of the U.S., just as testing efforts wane, has raised the specter that the next major wave of the virus may be difficult to detect. In fact, the country could be in the midst of a surge right now and we might not even know it. Testing and viral sequencing are critical to responding quickly to new outbreaks of Covid. And yet, as the country tries to move on from the pandemic, demand for lab-based testing has declined and federal funding priorities have shifted. The change has forced some testing centers to shutter while others have hiked up prices in response to the end of government-subsidized testing programs.  People are increasingly relying on at-home rapid tests if they decide to test at all. But those results are rarely reported, giving public health officials little insight into how widespread the virus truly is. (Muller, 4/10)

The Wall Street Journal: The BA.2 Variant Is Spreading. Do You Need To Worry?
You’re going to the movies and eating indoors. Your kid stopped wearing a mask to school; you no longer wear one to work. After two years of Covid precautions, you finally feel normal again. Well, mostly.BA.2—a subvariant of the Omicron variant that tore through the U.S. this winter—is spreading. It’s now the dominant variant throughout the country and has triggered recent surges in Europe. If you live somewhere where local statistics suggest cases are rising but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map still shades your county low-risk green, it can be tough to figure out what to do.  (Reddy, 4/10)

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Fox News: Fauci Says People Should Decide 'Individual Risk' For COVID, Reverting Back To Masks Possible
Dr. Anthony Fauci advised that individuals will need to decide for themselves their personal level of risk for events and COVID-19 exposure going forward as people learn to live with the virus. "What's going to happen is that we're going to see that each individual is going to have to make their calculation of the amount of risk that they want to take in going to indoor dinner is going to functions even within the realm of a green zone," Fauci said during an appearance on ABC’s "This Week" on Sunday. "It’s going to be a person's decision about the individual risk they're going to take." (Aitken, 4/10)

The Washington Post: Meet The Ivy League Physician Who Is The New White House Coronavirus Czar 
Ashish Jha, the Ivy League doctor who begins this week as President Biden’s new coronavirus czar, has never held a full-time federal job, let alone one in the political crosshairs. Skeptics question his ability to navigate the toxic politics of Washington. Those who know Jha counter with stories like how he single-handedly short-circuited a Harvard faculty revolt. Dozens of faculty members had filed into a conference room in December 2018, prepared to vote they had no confidence in the dean of the public health school, until Jha talked them out of it. As Harvard’s global health leader, Jha warned his colleagues that publicly airing their concerns would weaken confidence in the school, with consequences for them all. Instead, he took their complaints to dean Michelle Williams and attempted to quietly broker a solution, even though her removal could have opened a path for Jha to succeed her, said four people familiar with the situation. (Diamond, 4/9)