After Omicron

Recent trends in Vermont’s Covid-19 case counts have officials and experts feeling optimistic about the course of the pandemic — but all warn it would be premature to brush off the Omicron threat just yet.As of Friday, the state’s seven-day average for daily new cases had fallen by more than half since its peak on Jan. 9, a sign that the worst of the past month’s surge may have passed.Many of the most drastic effects of the Omicron variant are still being felt. Hospitals remain under serious strain, with elevated numbers of Covid patients continuing to stress a diminished workforce. Schools and families are still contending with the disruptions of widespread staff and student absences due to Covid infections. And fatalities in Vermont continue to climb, with 54 Covid deaths — the third-highest monthly total of the pandemic — reported so far in January, as of Friday.But the apparent decline in transmission is significant, according to a range of experts. The nation is likely weeks away from a new, transitional phase of the pandemic, and the shift toward managing Covid as “endemic” rather than epidemic may finally be in sight.