Since the testing positive jig is up, they need people to get sick by the new strains so they can keep the status going. This way they can push booster shots for as long as they can and make $ on them. If the numbers go down like how they are in free states, then the need for a booster is reduced. Combine that with the new testing threshold, cases will still fall.
So the CDC made that statement knowing the OG shot will not work anymore and they want people to gather and go back to normal and get sick.
If people like Maddow is accepting the new CDC mask and distance guidance, then you gotta question it.
People have better hygiene now (hand washing and not licking fingers), so that's probably why cases have dropped in free states. I used to catch the flu every year. All the time, I thought it was from the gym. But 1 day I started to wash my hands as soon as I get into the office. There is a sink next to the entrance. I haven't caught the flu in about 5 years now. Which to me means I was not catching it from the gym like I thought, but form the parking garage, into the lobby and then into the elevator. So the hand washing as soon as I got thru the office door helped.