Face masks can dampen the spread of contagious diseases. OsakaWayne Studios/Getty Images/Moment RF hide caption
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A street painting in Mumbai, India, reinforces the importance of masks amid a surge of COVID. The photo was taken on January 11. Indranil Aditya via Reuters Connect hide caption
A gull picks up a discarded protective face mask from the shoreline in the marina on August 11, 2020 in Dover, England. Leon Neal/Getty Images hide caption
How do pandemics begin? There's a new theory — and a new strategy to thwart them
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden, cites the U.S. vaccination program and previous widespread transmission of the coronavirus as reasons why the U.S. is not now under pandemic conditions. Here, travelers wait at Miami International Airport last week after mask requirements were lifted. Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A man wearing a face mask to curb the spread of coronavirus walks past a health campaign poster in the Westminster underground train station, in London. Matt Dunham/AP hide caption
Rosy, 6, gives COVID tests and vaccines to her stuffed animals. She herself has been exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, multiple times and never tested positive. What's her secret? Michaeleen Doucleff/NPR hide caption
Why hasn't my daughter caught COVID? 2 factors likely protect her — and maybe you too
A health worker shows a box containing a bottle of Ivermectin in Cali, Colombia, on July 21, 2020. Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Delta and omicron met up inside 1 person and made the Frankenstein hybrid 'deltacron'
A woman holds a copy of the order of service during a memorial service for doctors who died of Covid-19 while working during the pandemic, at the British Medical Association on March 16, 2022 in London, England. Covid-19 restrictions continue to be lifted across the United Kingdom, despite infection rates increasing over the last few weeks. Leon Neal/Getty Images hide caption
COVID-19 Cases Rise In The U.K., U.S. Watches For New Wave
Some European countries, such as Spain, are making plans for the time they might be able to treat SARS-CoV-2 as an endemic disease — one that's always around but fairly predictable. But the World Health Organization cautions that the pandemic is not over. Above: Masked pedestrians in Barcelona, Spain, in July 2021. Joan Mateu/AP hide caption
A health worker collects swab samples to test for COVID-19 from a participant of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games. Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Elana Meyers Taylor and Kaysha Love of USA look on after competing in the two-woman bobsled. Meyers Taylor recently tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating in Beijing. Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images hide caption
A student washes her hands before entering a classroom at a school in Blantyre, Malawi, in March 2021. Top scientists say that many African countries, including Malawi, appear to have already arrived at a substantially less threatening stage of the coronavirus pandemic. Joseph Mizere/Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images hide caption
A health worker wearing protective clothing shows people lining up at a testing center in Beijing, China. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images hide caption
Omicron Around The World: From "Zero COVID" To Rising Cases
A worker hands a nasal swab to a motorist at a drive-up COVID-19 testing site in Denver on Jan. 13. David Zalubowski/AP hide caption
Linsey Jones, a medical assistant working at a drive-up coronavirus testing clinic, wears an N95 mask on Jan. 4 in Puyallup, Wash. The Biden administration will begin making 400 million N95 masks available for free to Americans starting this week. Ted S. Warren/AP hide caption
This colorized transmission electron micrograph image shows SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19. This specimen was isolated from a patient in the United States. Particles of the virus (yellow) are emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab (pink). Science Source hide caption
A phlebotomist tends to a blood donor during the Starts, Stripes, and Pints blood drive event in Louisville, Ky., in July. Rising numbers of organ transplants, trauma cases, and elective surgeries postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic have caused an increase in the need for blood products. Jon Cherry/Getty Images hide caption
A commuter masks up for a bus ride in Liverpool, England. The omicron variant of the coronavirus has surged in the U.K. and is now dominant in the U.S. as well. There's now data indicating just how severe its symptoms might be. Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Passengers look out from the Spectrum of the Seas cruise ship docked in Hong Kong on Wednesday. Thousands of passengers were being held on the ship for coronavirus testing after health authorities said nine passengers were linked to a recent omicron cluster and ordered the ship to turn back. Vincent Yu/AP hide caption