Outside in Washington D.C., it's hard to find someone masked.
This as COVID cases tick upwards again. The U.S. now is averaging 31,000 new cases a day, according to a New York Times analysis. It's 3% more from two weeks ago.
"We are seeing case numbers rise in New England, here in the mid-Atlantic. We're going to see this, right? In the pandemic we're going to see moments where cases go up, cases go down," said White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha.
Experts think the actual number is higher, with people testing positive with an at-home COVID test and not reporting it to their local health department.
The spread is due to the Omicron BA.2 variant. Current evidence shows it's more contagious but less severe than its parent strain.
Between that and the number of people immune from vaccination or a prior COVID infection, experts aren't worried about a surge like in winter.
Hospitalizations haven't jumped yet.
The latest Health and Human Services numbers show only about 2% of hospital beds in the U.S. are filled with COVID patients.
Some hospitals are still burned from the previous two years of COVID.
In Utah, a 25-member Navy medical team is aiding the University of Utah after some patients had surgery postponed more than once.
"I could definitely tell that the University of Utah system had a number of staff who were overwhelmed. They were burnt out," said U.S. Navy Medical Doctor Cmdr. Arriel Atienza.
The CDC highly prioritizes how full hospitals are when it considers changing mask guidelines.
If that was to happen, people in the nation's capital are ready for deja vu.
