For most of the pandemic, I’ve been wearing reusable cloth masks and feeling pretty good about them: they fit well, they’re comfortable and they seem sustainable. But when I spoke with infectious disease doctor Mohammad Sobhanie this week for my new story on masking in the time of Omicron, he gently told me that it’s time to trade up. “Cloth masks are something that, probably at this stage, we need to put aside,” he said.
The tide is turning in favor of N95 masks to protect against Omicron. Yesterday, President Joe Biden announced that the government will provide the public with free N95s soon—a dramatic shift from the start of the pandemic, when officials urged the public to reserve respirators for health care workers. But supplies are now plentiful enough for anyone to buy them, and there’s good reason to: an authentic, well-fitting N95, KN95 or KF94 can filter out almost all airborne particles, providing far more protection than cloth or surgical masks can offer. One recent study found that the risk of infection dropped up to 75-fold when two people were wearing N95-style masks, as opposed to surgical masks. With a variant as contagious as Omicron, that risk reduction is valuable.
Respirators are often less comfortable than surgical or cloth masks, and the expense of stocking up on them can add up. If these barriers prevent you from wearing a mask at all, you’re better off wearing a lower quality mask consistently, experts told me.
However, if you’re going to be in a risky situation, like a crowded space or an environment where there are likely to be sick people, you are safer in an N95-style mask—so it’s worth having at least a small supply of them on hand.
More than 648 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of yesterday afternoon, of which more than 525.6 million doses have been administered, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. Nearly 63% of Americans have been completely vaccinated.
More than 320 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 5 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 5.5 million people have died. On Jan. 13, there were more than 2.7 million new cases and 7,155 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending, in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 5 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 64 million coronavirus cases as of 5 a.m. E.T. today. More than 846,000 people have died. On Jan. 13, there were 784,659 new cases and 1,901 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Jan. 14, 12 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
People in the U.S. can request free at-home COVID-19 tests beginning Jan. 19, the Biden Administration announced today. Four tests will be available per residential address and will ship within 12 days of ordering. People can request tests online at COVIDTests.gov; the administration will also set up a phone line and work with community groups in high-risk areas to distribute diagnostics. The program is in addition to the Biden Administration’s efforts to make private insurers cover at-home tests.
In an unfortunate flashback to 2020, many U.S. hospitals are canceling non-urgent procedures and relying on the National Guard to help provide care during the Omicron spike, CNN reports. More than 150,000 people in the U.S. are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, and ICUs are at least 85% full in 19 states. There are signs that the Omicron wave is beginning to peak in early hotspots, like New York City, but cases are still skyrocketing in many parts of the country—which means health care workers will be weathering the surge for weeks to come.
Some health insurers say they are not prepared to begin reimbursing people for at-home COVID-19 tests this weekend as directed by the federal government, the New York Times reports. Under a Biden Administration initiative, private insurers are supposed to start paying back customers for rapid tests beginning tomorrow. But companies say they may miss that deadline while they scramble to build out reimbursement procedures for the tests, which do not come with the billing codes insurers are accustomed to using. “It is going to be exceedingly difficult for most health plans to implement this in [time],” one industry executive told the Times.
The Omicron variant is leading to record numbers of cases in some European countries, according to the Guardian. Germany and the Netherlands reached new highs today with more than 92,000 and 35,000 cases recorded, respectively. In Italy, the variant now accounts for at least 81% of new diagnoses and contributed to the 184,000 cases reported there yesterday. These surges make clear that, while the variant’s activity is beginning to recede in some places, the world still faces a lot more Omicron ahead.
Australian authorities once again canceled tennis star Novak Djokovic’s visa, likely barring the unvaccinated athlete from competing in the Australian Open next week. Djokovic tried to enter the country last week but was blocked due to questions about the legitimacy of his requested vaccine exemption. A judge initially reinstated his visa, but officials today canceled it again. While Djokovic can appeal the decision, he faces deportation if he exhausts his legal options. As TIME’s Amy Gunia notes in her story, the whole saga could have been avoided if Djokovic simply got fully vaccinated before the competition.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and edited by Mandy Oaklander.
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