New COVID cases continue to fall across the U.S., even as a new version of Omicron spreads quickly in other parts of the world.
By the numbers: Nationwide, the U.S. is now averaging roughly 29,000 new COVID cases per day — a 22% drop over the past two weeks.
- Kansas and Nebraska have the lowest case rates in the country, each with an average of just two new cases per 100,000 people.
- Case rates were highest in Kentucky and Alaska.
- Deaths have dropped to an average of roughly 1,000 a day, down 26% from more than 1,300 deaths a day two weeks ago.
What we're watching: Europe is experiencing a new wave, driven by a highly contagious Omicron subvariant, but many experts say the U.S. probably won't get hit as hard.
- "I don't really see, unless something changes dramatically, that there will be a major surge," NIAID director Anthony Fauci told the Washington Post Tuesday
- Even if there is a new surge in cases, hospitalizations are not expected to rise.