What’s Behind the Sharp Rise in Omicron Infections and Rapid Decline?

What is the science behind the sharp rise in Omicron infections and then the rapid decline? It seems we might have hit a peak here in the U.S. and are already seeing new infections drop in places like the U.K. and South Africa. Umair Irfan, reporter at Vox, joins us for how more immunity could be building up in the population and the variant is running out of new people to infect.

Next, the IRS wants to scan your face. Starting this summer anyone that wants to access their records on the IRS website like tax transcripts, child tax credits or payment plans, they will need to record a video of their face and send it to private contractor ID.me to confirm their identity. Drew Harwell, tech reporter at The Washington Post, joins us for more.

Finally, many questions still remain about the Jan. 21st accident involving a truck transporting research monkeys that crashed in Pennsylvania. The latest update is that Kenya airways that flew the monkeys to the U.S. will not renew its contract to continue to their transport. There are also still questions about Michele Fallon’s health, the woman who fell ill after contact with them. Michael Levenson, reporter at the NY Times, joins us for what we know.

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