Widespread uptake of COVID-19 vaccines that are highly effective against severe illness and death, the accrual of high rates of vaccine- and infection-induced immunity at the population level, and the availability of effective therapeutics have moved the pandemic to a different phase.

Despite high volume of hospitalizations due to high caseloads, the emergence of Omicron as the dominant variant reflected lower virulence and disease severity.

These changes make it more feasible to minimize medically significant disease and prevent excessive strain on the healthcare sector, even in the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

A burdened healthcare system is associated with increased mortality associated with COVID-199-10 and limits capacity and resources for medical care for non-COVID-19 conditions.

Accordingly, at this stage of the pandemic, data on disease severity and healthcare system strain to complement case rates are more informative for public health recommendations for individual, organizational, and jurisdictional decisions than data on community transmission rates alone.

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