Once again, it's the time of year when respiratory illnesses — including COVID-19 — make their comeback . So, as we gear up for another winter virus season, take a moment to make sure you know how and when to properly use at-home COVID tests .

We don't know exactly what this year's winter COVID situation will look like, but it's a good bet that there will be a rise in coronavirus cases as we've seen during and after previous holiday seasons, Dr. Geeta Sood, an assistant professor of medicine and hospital epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, tells TODAY.com.

The "wild card" in predicting possible COVID waves is the emergence of new coronavirus variants, Sood says, and how transmissible they are.

But even as variants shift, we can still rely on rapid antigen tests t

See Full Page