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