COVID case counts may be losing importance amid omicron

A man is swabbed for COVID-19 at a walk-up testing site at Farragut Square on Dec. 23, 2021, just blocks from the White House in Washington. The explosive increase in U.S. coronavirus case counts is raising alarm, but some experts believe the focus should instead be on COVID-19 hospital admissions. And those aren't climbing as fast. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File )