COVID

Nearly every state and public school district have seen math and reading scores among fourth and eighth graders decline since 2019, according to new national test scores.

Why it matters: The results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, dubbed the Nation's Report Card, are yet another illustration of the historic learning setbacks the pandemic caused, Axios' Noah Bressner reports.

Respiratory illnesses in children are on the rise.

Why it matters: Physicians across the country have reported seeing more cases of the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, in recent weeks, Axios' Herb Scribner reports.

Nearly a third of Americans who know they've had COVID-19 say they've also experienced the lingering, often debilitating aftereffects known as long COVID.

• That includes 28% of Ohioans, ranking us 31st among states, according to a recent CDC survey of 50,000 people.

Demand for Omicron boosters is off to a slow start.

What's happening: Just over 325,000 Ohioans have received a dose of the updated COVID-19 shots — called bivalent vaccines — since they rolled out in late September.

New COVID-19 boosters are now rolling out to Central Ohio providers.

🤔 Your questions, answered:

Ohio's life expectancy was the 13th-lowest in the U.S. in 2020, per new CDC data.

• The average lifespan of an Ohioan at birth was 75.3 years — lower than the national average of 77.

Almost 83% of Ohio kids between 6 months and 17 years old have been infected with COVID-19, per recent estimates from the CDC.

• That's slightly higher than the national average of just under 80%.

Health officials in Columbus and Franklin County are recommending we wear masks in public again for the first time since rescinding mandates more than four months ago.

Driving the news: This is the first time Franklin County has had a "high" COVID-19 community level on a new CDC data tracker launched in March, triggered by rising community spread and hospitalizations.