*And by D.C., I mean Alexandria, VA, because the publicly available D.C. data don’t seem to be collected anymore.

We have a very slight decline–which is better than another sharp increase (January 6 data):

With a slight decline from 1,502 copies/ml to 1,461 copies/ml, we’re almost fifteen times higher than the mid-June 2023 nadir and twelve percent higher than the January 2023 season peak–yes, it’s still worse than last January. That probably means at least 2.0 percent of people are currently infected (though that’s a very rough estimate because we’re not collecting the right prevalence data).

Anne Arundel County, MD also has leveled off, so hopefully that means we’ll begin to trend downward. I am seeing more people wearing masks, so hopefully that will help somewhat.

If you’re at a large-ish gathering, it’s definitely a good idea to mask up, not just to protect yourself, but to protect others too. Remember, you’re not the weirdo if you’re still trying to avoid getting (re)infected.