Experts map out 'new normal' as US enters third pandemic year

As America enters the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic and approaches the 2-year anniversary of business and school shutdowns put in place when little was known about the novel coronavirus, a group of public health experts have published a new roadmap laying out how the country can enter the "new normal" stage of the pandemic and manage the virus without eliminating it.The roadmap recommends against future school closings, suggests the United States will need to manufacture 1 billion at-home COVID-19 tests per month, and says the nation can lift pandemic restrictions when it is tallying 165 or fewer deaths per day from the virus.The authors begin the roadmap by acknowledging where America stands: fatigued with the pandemic, some having stopped all COVID-19 protocols, while others still extremely cautious.

In the middle are millions who are confused about how to comport themselves now that vaccines and therapeutics make COVID-19 a more manageable disease.The roadmap was co-authored by 24 US experts, including 2 from the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, publisher of CIDRAP News.Measures may end when deaths fall dramatically"The pandemic and its restrictive measures should end when Covid death rates decline to those of a bad influenza season," the authors write.

That translates to roughly 60,000 deaths per year, or 165 per day.Currently, the 7-day average of new daily COVID-19 cases is 44,800, with 1,539 daily deaths, according to the Washington Post tracker.

In the past week cases fell by 31%, hospitalizations fell 23%, and deaths fell 19%.In the best-case scenario, the authors write, widespread use of vaccines and previous infection will limit the ability of the virus to