… of the state of the pandemic?
I would say that it’s the number of deaths, and/or the number of people in critical care.
“Number of cases” isn’t right because (1) some people suffer no ill effect, (2) we’re testing more, and (3) it’s very possible (as it has been reported by some experts) that the virus is weakening. Whether that’s true or not (I hope it’s true), “number of cases” is the wrong measure.