Hi, this is Aiellett from Unclair, New Jersey.

I will be churning 40 this year, and in the lead up to my birthday, I'm trying to accomplish 40 new things.

One of those is sending a timestamp to the NPR Politics Podcast.

This podcast was recorded at 208 PM on Monday, March 28.

Things may have changed by the time you hear this, but hopefully I will be one step closer to accomplishing my birthday goal.

Enjoy the show.

We got you.

Now just 39 more things to do.

That's ambitious. I hope some of them are easier.

Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Tamra Keith. I cover the White House.

I'm dear Dr. Walsh. I cover Congress.

And we are checking in on the state of the COVID pandemic in the US today.

So we have Alison Aubrey here from NPR's health team.

Hey Alison. Hey Tamra, hey, dear Dr. Good to be here.

So we've got a little bit of politics, a little bit of science, and we are glad to have you joining us for it.

Let's start with just the state of things.

COVID cases, hospitalizations, and finally deaths are down in the United States right now.

But Dr. Anthony Fauci said last week that it is too early to declare victory over the virus.

This virus has fooled us before, and we really must be prepared for the possibility that we might get another variant.

And we don't want to be caught flatfooted on that.

So Alison, what's he talking about there?

I think he's looking across the Atlantic.

...