What are we all to make of this new phase of a clearly still-present pandemic? It is hard to know, with everything that’s changed.

For starters, the old metrics for gauging progress are no longer so reliable — case counts, in particular, since so many people are testing at home, if at all. The formerly daily reports on COVID-19 now are being released only weekly by state health officials, a rational choice given the limited reliable data but still frustrating to people who’d like more help assessing their personal risks.

An early-warning system of wastewater surveillance for the virus is in the works locally but not due to be fully operational until summer, which is disappointing for not coming sooner.

There are tools to help the community cope. New therapeutics provide some backup, and for the most vulnerable who are fully enrolled in Medicare, free home tests are now covered on a continuing basis through participating pharmacies.

Vaccines remain the best safeguard, of course, but in the case of booster shots, there is a lot of confusion. Only 55% of Hawaii’s eligible population has received any booster shots, which experts agree are extremely protective against serious disease and death. That’s much too low, and needs to increase to optimize community health.

As for those eligible for the second booster — age 50 and up — many want clarity on whether or not to jump for this shot. The advice from most public health authorities is those on the 60-plus end of the spectrum should get the second booster if it’s been four or more months since the first.

Those younger should consider whether their particular health conditions or any risky circumstances might make it wise to obtain the second booster sooner rather than later. A doctor’s consultation could help.

Since Hawaii’s indoor mask mandate was lifted March 26, the community is similarly split on whether to wear masks as routinely as before. Detections of any of the three current omicron subvariants have not yet compelled a return to a war footing against COVID-19 in Hawaii. In fact, on Monday afternoon, it was announced that face masks are no longer mandatory at Hawaii airports after a Florida federal ruling voided the national mask mandate covering airplanes and other public transportation.

Advice for the already cautious: Well-fitting filtration masks such as an N-95 or similar types are far preferable. Cloth masks offer little protection against omicron and its subvariants.

Hawaii, like most places nationally, has transitioned primarily to tracking hospitalizations, which have remained low with the end of the last COVID-19 omicron surge. This measure is critical, but as Dr. Tim Brown observed last week, it doesn’t go far enough.

Brown is a senior fellow in the East-West Center research program, where he directs a team of epidemiologists and programmers. Speaking on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” webcast, he underscored that hospitalizations are a lagging indicator of disease spread. By the time numbers spike, there is a real problem.

“In the absence of a mask mandate, what becomes important is that the public knows what’s going on, that they have a clear picture of what’s actually happening with the epidemic in our community,” Brown said.

That’s why it’s important that Hawaii lose no more time in getting staffing in place for the Department of Health’s statewide wastewater tracking system to operate — especially before more travelers start arriving for summer vacations. This pandemic has been unpredictable, and both government and the public need time to make whatever course corrections are needed.

The way to “live with the virus” is not to pretend that it’s gone, Brown said. That’s right, and nobody would agree with him more strongly than Mayor Rick Blangiardi, who tested positive last week.

“As much as we have talked about putting COVID behind us, it’s still around us,” the mayor said Monday. “I think I’m proof positive of that.”