The virus is still with us, though humanity has built up immunity through vaccinations and infections. It’s less deadly than it was in the pandemic’s early days and it no longer tops the list of leading causes of death. But the virus is evolving, meaning scientists must track it closely.

The website has been reopened on the heels of a summer COVID-19 virus wave and heading into the fall and winter respiratory virus season, with health officials urging Americans to get an updated COVID-19 vaccine and their yearly flu shot.

U.S. households will be able to order as many as four nasal swab tests when the federal program reopens.

Most people have some degree of immunity to the coronavirus from past vaccinations or from infections. And many people are not following the five-day isolation guidance anyway, some experts say.

Amid many unanswered questions and the end of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency declaration earlier this year, long COVID patients remain in limbo as they continue to manage and live with their symptoms.

The tests coming available soon are intended for use through the end of 2023 and will include instructions on how to verify extended expiration dates, HHS said in an announcement Wednesday.

The city’s Board of Education will vote next week on a one-year contract worth up to $5 million with the Pittsburgh-based Fisher Scientific company to provide COVID-19 testing supplies to the school district for the upcoming academic year.

For the first time, you may have to pick up some or all of the costs of COVID-19 testing, depending on insurance coverage and whether the tests are done at home or in a doctor’s office.

During the past seven days, an average of 31 people have been hospitalized each day in Chicago from COVID-19, down more than 40% during the past week, according to city data last updated Wednesday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday said the city is expected to move from a “medium” risk level for contracting COVID-19 back to a “high” risk level, likely sometime in the next week. When that happens, the city will reinstate an advisory, urging Chicagoans to mask up.

After a three-month hiatus, the administration is making four rapid virus tests available per household through covidtests.gov starting Thursday.

Chicago hospitals and health care providers are also coping with sharp increases in flu cases and illness caused by RSV, a respiratory virus, officials said.

The move is likely to reduce fears, at least temporarily, of an imminent surge of COVID-19 once colder weather settled over Chicago for the duration, forcing people indoors.

Chicago and Cook County last faced a medium risk of COVID-19 in mid-September.

Chicago and Cook County last faced a low risk of COVID-19 on May 5. The region has bounced between a medium risk and a high risk all summer.

At a press briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world has never been in a better position to stop COVID-19. The U.N. health agency said deaths fell by 22% in the past week, at just over 11,000 reported worldwide. There were 3.1 million new cases, a drop of 28%.