NEWSCENTER 5 AT 5:30. ERIKA: A STUDY SUGGESTS FIVE OUT OF SIX AMERICAN ADULTS HAVE SOME LEVEL OF IMMUNITY TO COVID-19, EITHER THROUGH VACCINATION OR PREVIOUS INFECTION. HERE TO EXPLAIN IS DR. DANIEL, CHIEF OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES AT THE BRIGHAM. GREAT TO SEE YOU. BEN: GOOD AFTERNOON, DOCTOR. IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE ON ONE LEVEL THAT IT HAS BEEN NEARLY THREE YEARS SINCE WE FIRST HEARD THE TERM COVID-19, SO HOW DID THE STRAINS CIRCULATING TODAY COMPARED TO THE ONE STRAIN THAT TRIGGERED THIS GLOBAL PANDEMIC BACK IN LATE 2019 AND EARLY 2020? >> IT IS HARD TO COMPARE STRAINS BECAUSE THEY APPEARED AT DIFFERENT POINTS IN TIME. CERTAINLY, THE MOST RECENT STRAINS, THE VARIANCE, ARE WHAT IS CIRCULATING NOW. AND WHAT ARE ABLE TO ESCAPE IMMUNITY. WHETHER THEY ARE REALLY MORE TRANSMISSIBLE OR MORE SERIOUS THAN THE EARLY STRAIN, WE CAN ONLY GUESS BY TRYING TO DO EXPERIMENTS IN ANIMALS. IN THE HUMAN POPULATION BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH IMMUNITY AS YOU DISCUSSED, WE CANNOT REALLY MAKE COMPARISONS. WE KNOW IN CHINA THAT XBB AND OMICRON VARIANCE ART WREAKING HAVOC, SO THAT IS A REASON TO THINK THEY ARE VERY TRANSMISSIBLE AND SERIOUS IN A NON-IMMUNE POPULATION. ERIKA: WE KNOW YOU AND YOUR COLLEAGUES ARE STILL BATTLING THREE RESPIRATORY VIRUSES AT LEAST. FLU, RSV AND COVID. IS ONE MORE DANGEROUS WHEN YOU COMPARE THEM? >> COVID IS MORE DANGEROUS. WE HAVE MORE PEOPLE IN THE HOSPITAL CURRENTLY BECAUSE OF COVID-19 OR WHO WERE TESTING POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 THAN WE DO FOR FLUENCY. VERY FEW WITH RSV. FOR PEOPLE WHO DO NOT HAVE IMMUNITY, COVID IS A MUCH MORE SERIOUS INFECTION THAN INFLUENZA. BEN: AS YOU KNOW, WE MADE IT THROUGH THE HOLIDAY SEASON WITHOUT A SURGE OF COVID CASES, WHICH WE HAD SEEN BOTH OF THE LAST TWO YEARS. I THINK THAT WAS THE LAST HURDLE OUT THERE FOR US AS WE WERE TRYING TO RETURN TO THIS NORMAL OR THIS NEW NORMAL WORLD. SO WE ARE PAST THAT. WHEN DO YOU THINK WE CAN TREAT THIS VIRUS, COVID, LIKE OTHERS? MAYBE ELIMINATE MANDATORY QUARANTINE THAT ARE OUT THERE? >> THAT’S THE BILLION DOLLAR QUESTION. I KNOW YOU ARE SO OVER COVID, BUT I THINK THAT FOR INDIVIDUALS GOING ABOUT THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES, FOR MOST PEOPLE, REASONABLE. OF THE CHALLENGE IS WHAT TO DO IF SOMEONE COMES DOWN WITH COVID-19 AND WHAT EXTENT WE HAVE TO PROTECT OTHER PEOPLE. THAT DEPENDS ON THE ENVIRONMENT YOU ARE IN, WHERE YOU’RE WORKING IN CONTACT WITH. OF COURSE, WE LOOK TO THE CDC FOR GUIDANCE ON THAT. ERIKA: DR. DANIEL, AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. BEN: AND OUR VIEWERS IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS YOU WOULD LIKE EXPERTS TO ANSWER, EMAIL THE