Tri-State health experts: Lower COVID numbers reflect new direction for pandemic

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - On Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said the United States is past the pandemic stage in an interview with PBS “NewsHour.”

He later backed off those claims, saying, “We are in a different moment of the pandemic... by no means does that mean the pandemic is over.”

In the Tri-State, health experts say that cases of COVID-19 have dwindled as of late, and the level of spread doesn’t show we are still in a pandemic.

“We’re seeing far less cases around the United States, Canada and Mexico, so from that standpoint, the pandemic is nearly over,” said Evansville Primary Care’s Dr. David Schultz.

Vanderburgh County Health Department Administrator Joe Gries says cases have dropped in the county and across Indiana.

“We’re seeing numbers that are single digits each day. We’ve had a few days where we had no cases,” said Gries.

In Kentucky, the latest COVID metrics map shows every county is in the green, the lowest level of community spread.

Dr. Schultz agrees that the current spread of COVID-19 doesn’t constitute a label of “pandemic,” but says there are areas of the country that are “endemic.”

“In our country, we’re seeing certain areas of New York where there are increased rates of the virus, that would be considered an endemic. To see the whole nation affected in large numbers, we certainly do not see evidence of a pandemic in the United States,” said Schultz.

Schultz says now is the perfect time to get your initial vaccine or booster, so if cases start to rise or new variants emerge, the Tri-State has better herd immunity.

If you’re one of the many people with mask fatigue, Schultz has good news.

“Do not use the mask, necessarily, but don’t throw them away either because this can come back again, certainly as the weather changes and as additional strains may come into the area,” said Schultz.

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