Coronavirus category, Page 11

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday set tentative dates in June to publicly review covid-19 vaccines for the youngest American children, typically the final step before authorizing the shots. The meeting announcement follows months of frustration from families impatient for a chance to vaccinate their little children, along with...

Experts in the Pittsburgh region generally agree with Dr. Anthony Fauci’s assessment this week that the United States is “out of the pandemic phase” of covid-19, the virus whose death toll is closing in 1 million in the U.S. alone. “ ‘Over’ is a strong term,” said Dr. Donald Whiting,...

Colombians will soon be going to movie theaters without having to wear face masks. Chile opens its borders next week for the first time in two years. Mexico’s president has declared the pandemic over. And in Rio de Janeiro, tens of thousands attended Carnival parades just two months after the...

Moderna on Thursday asked U.S. regulators to authorize low doses of its covid-19 vaccine for children younger than 6, a long-awaited move toward potentially opening shots for millions of tots by summer. Frustrated families are waiting impatiently for a chance to protect the nation’s littlest kids as all around them...

LONDON — A British court ruled Wednesday that the government’s decision to discharge hospital patients into nursing homes without testing them for covid-19, which led to thousands of deaths early in the pandemic, was illegal. Two High Court judges said the policy from March and April 2020 was unlawful because...

JERUSALEM — The coronavrius pandemic and Israel’s overwhelming force during the Gaza war helped fuel a worldwide spike in antisemitism last year, Israeli researchers reported on Wednesday. The prominence of political extremism and the reach of social media also may have intensified the ancient phenomenon of scapegoating Jews in recent...

Newly infected covid-19 patients have two treatment options that can be taken at home. But that convenience comes with a catch: The pills have to be taken as soon as possible once symptoms appear. The challenge is getting tested, obtaining a prescription and starting the pills in a short window....

NEW YORK — Three out of every four U.S. children have been infected with the coronavirus and more than half of all Americans had signs of previous infections, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers estimated in a report Tuesday. The researchers examined blood samples from more than 200,000 Americans...

WASHINGTON —Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for covid-19 on Tuesday, the White House announced, underscoring the persistence of the highly contagious virus even as the U.S. eases restrictions in a bid to return to pre-pandemic normalcy. Harris press secretary Kirsten Allen said neither President Joe Biden nor first lady...

China’s capital, Beijing, began mass testing of more than 3 million people on Monday and restricted residents in one part of the city to their compounds, sparking worries of a wider Shanghai-style lockdown. While only 70 cases have been found so far in the city of more than 21 million...

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Volunteers and government workers in Shanghai erected metal barriers in multiple districts to block off small streets and entrances to apartment complexes, as China hardens its strict “zero-covid” approach in its largest city despite growing complaints from residents. In the city’s financial district, Pudong, the barriers —...

The final weeks of the college school year have been disrupted yet again by covid-19 as universities bring back mask mandates, switch to online classes and scale back large gatherings in response to upticks in coronavirus infections. Colleges in Washington, D.C., New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Texas have reimposed...

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia is ending its indoor mask mandate, city health officials said Thursday night, abruptly reversing course just days after people in the city had to start wearing masks again amid a sharp increase in infections. The Board of Health voted Thursday to rescind the mandate, according to the...

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald is back in the office five days after testing positive for covid-19. Fitzgerald, who is vaccinated and boosted, had no symptoms, said county spokeswoman Amie Downs. He was tested last week after he’d been in close contact with someone who had the virus, and he...

A majority of Americans continue to support a mask requirement for people traveling on airplanes and other shared transportation, a new poll finds. A ruling by a federal judge has put the government’s transportation mask mandate on hold. The poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds...

The Justice Department said Tuesday it will not appeal a federal district judge’s ruling that ended the nation’s federal mask mandate on public transit unless the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes the requirement is still necessary. In a statement released a day after a Florida judge ended the...

Moderna hopes to offer updated covid-19 boosters in the fall that combine its original vaccine with protection against the omicron variant. On Tuesday, it reported a preliminary hint that such an approach might work. Today’s covid-19 vaccines all are based on the original version of the coronavirus. But the virus...

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia’s return to indoor masking on Monday has drawn as many different reactions as there are new variants of the coronavirus. Relief among those concerned about the recent rise in cases of covid-19. Grudging acceptance from others. And resentment among those who see the move as overcautious and...

The federal “test-to-treat” program, announced in March, is meant to reduce covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths by quickly getting antiviral pills to people who test positive. But even as cases rise again, many Americans don’t have access to the program. Pfizer’s Paxlovid and Merck’s Lagevrio are both designed to be started...

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald tested positive for covid-19 Thursday, officials announced Friday. Gainey is experiencing only minor symptoms and is in isolation at home, his office said in a news release Friday morning. He will continue working from home while following guidelines from the...

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday issued an emergency use authorization for what it said is the first device that can detect covid-19 in breath samples. The InspectIR covid-19 Breathalyzer is about the size of a piece of carry-on luggage, the FDA said, and can be used...

JOHANNESBURG — The number of coronavirus cases and deaths in Africa have dropped to their lowest levels since the pandemic began, marking the longest decline yet seen in the disease, according to the World Health Organization. In a statement on Thursday, the U.N. health agency said covid-19 infections due to...

Pfizer said Thursday it wants to expand its covid-19 booster shots to healthy elementary-age kids. U.S. health authorities already urge everyone 12 and older to get one booster dose for the best protection against the newest variants — and recently gave the option of a second booster to those 50...

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is extending the nationwide mask requirement for airplanes and public transit for 15 days as it monitors an uptick in covid-19 cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was extending the order, which was set to expire on...