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Coronavirus category, Page 21

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
White House: Biden negative for covid after close contact
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has tested negative for covid-19, the White House said Wednesday. “This morning, President Biden received a PCR test and the test result was negative,” the White House press office said in a statement emailed to reporters, referring to a sensitive test used to detect the...
Pfizer pill becomes 1st U.S.-authorized home covid treatment
WASHINGTON — U.S. health regulators on Wednesday authorized the first pill against covid-19, a Pfizer drug that Americans will be able to take at home to head off the worst effects of the virus. The long-awaited milestone comes as U.S. cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all rising and health officials...
Experts weigh in on holiday travel amid threat of omicron, surging covid cases
Almost two years since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, cases are surging and the threat of another highly contagious variant looms, but projections show people still plan to travel for the holidays. Nearly 28 million more people will travel this year compared to 2020, according to AAA, and airlines...
‘Another storm coming’: WHO warns of omicron surge in Europe
VIENNA — The World Health Organization’s top official in Europe urged governments on Tuesday to prepare for a “significant surge” in coronavirus cases across the continent due to the omicron variant, which is already dominant in several countries. “We can see another storm coming,” WHO Europe regional director Dr. Hans...
Intel tells unvaccinated employees they face unpaid leave
PORTLAND, Ore. — Intel has told workers that unvaccinated people who don’t get an exemption for religious or medical reasons will be on unpaid leave beginning in April. The California-based semiconductor company told employees last month they had a Jan. 4 deadline to be vaccinated against covid-19 or seek an...
Young adults make up many of the long-haul covid patients at Chicago clinic
CHICAGO — When the coronavirus pandemic began, Patrick Malia was an energetic, 37-year-old father of two. In March 2020, coughing sent him to an Illinois emergency room. Two years later, the West Dundee, Illinois resident is still suffering from covid-19 symptoms he never could have imagined persisting so long after...
Biden to pledge 500M free covid-19 tests to counter omicron
WASHINGTON — With the omicron variant on the march, President Joe Biden plans to announce 500 million free rapid tests for Americans, increased support for hospitals under strain and a redoubling of vaccination and boosting efforts. In a speech scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, Biden is announcing major changes to his...
Boston to require vaccination proof for restaurants, others
Workers and customers at restaurants, gyms and many other indoor businesses in Boston will be required to show proof of coronavirus vaccination starting in mid-January in an effort to curb a rise in new cases across the city and state, Mayor Michelle Wu said Monday. In addition, city employees will...
Omicron sweeps across nation, now 73% of U.S. covid-19 cases
NEW YORK — Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the United States, accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in...
Westmoreland jail sees coronavirus cases ease in recent days
Westmoreland County Prison Warden Bryan Kline said that as of Monday there are 21 current coronavirus infections at the jail but no additional cases have been reported since late last week. Kline said the last inmate to test positive for the virus was on Dec. 17. “It’s getting better,” Kline...
What are symptoms of the omicron coronavirus variant? Here’s what early data shows
There’s still a lot we don’t know about the omicron coronavirus variant, including whether it causes more severe covid-19 or the degree to which it evades vaccines’ defenses in real-world settings. But early data collected in London reveals the answer to a question we’re all asking: Does omicron cause different...
Moderna: Initial booster data shows good results on omicron
Moderna said Monday that a booster dose of its covid-19 vaccine should offer protection against the rapidly spreading omicron variant. Moderna said lab tests showed the half-dose booster shot increased by 37 times the level of so-called neutralizing antibodies able to fight omicron. And a full-dose booster was even stronger,...
At-home test could prove crucial in tamping down spread of covid-19, experts say
Editor’s note: This story first published on Dec. 20, 2021. Sue Lovgren’s family member was sick with covid-like symptoms the week after Thanksgiving, and they had decisions to make, depending on what the result was. “We were waiting on a PCR test and it was taking too much time, and...
Royal Caribbean ship docks at Miami port with 48 cases of covid, cruise line says
MIAMI — Forty-eight passengers and crew members tested positive for covid-19 on Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas ship, which docked Saturday at PortMiami, the cruise company said. Miami-based Royal Caribbean said in a statement Sunday that each person who tested positive immediately went into quarantine. Six people who had...
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker test positive for covid breakthrough
BOSTON — Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey say they have tested positive for covid-19, as the country deals with another surge in cases and the emergence of the omicron variant. In separate statements Sunday, the Democrats said they had been fully vaccinated with two...
Washington state Sen. Doug Ericksen dies after covid battle
SEATTLE — Washington state Sen. Doug Ericksen, a staunch conservative, has died at age 52. Ericksen’s death Friday came weeks after he said he had tested positive for the coronavirus while in El Salvador, though his cause of death wasn’t immediately released. The state Senate Republican Caucus confirmed his passing...
German experts urge stricter coronavirus measures, more boosters
VIENNA — Germany should implement stricter measures this week to slow the spread of the omicron variant, the German government’s new expert council said Sunday, a day after the government announced it would impose travel restrictions on people coming from Britain. The council — comprised of Germany’s top virologists and...
Fauci says omicron variant is `just raging around the world’
WILMINGTON, Del. — The covid-19 omicron variant is “just raging around the world,” the White House’s top medical adviser said Sunday, and President Joe Biden is planning to give “a stark warning of what the winter will look like” for unvaccinated Americans. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease...
Vaccine data gaps point to millions more in U.S. who lack shots
The U.S. government has overcounted the number of Americans who are at least partly vaccinated against the coronavirus, state officials warn, meaning millions more people are unprotected as the pandemic’s winter surge gathers steam. Last weekend, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised a bellwether metric — the share...
Do employers have to follow Biden’s vaccine mandates?
Tens of millions of workers across the U.S. are in limbo as federal courts have issued different rulings related to President Joe Biden’s covid-19 vaccine mandates for larger private companies, certain health care workers and federal government contractors. A federal appeals court panel has allowed a vaccine requirement for employers...
OSHA vaccine mandate penalties to start Jan. 10
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration said Saturday that it would not issue citations tied to its coronavirus vaccination mandate before Jan. 10, so that companies have time to adjust to and implement the requirements. The federal agency separately said there would be no citations of companies regarding its testing...
Court allows Biden employer vaccine mandate to take effect
A federal appeals court panel on Friday allowed President Joe Biden’s covid-19 vaccine mandate for larger private employers to move ahead. The 2-1 decision by a panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a decision by a federal judge in a separate court that had paused the...
Pfizer study tests extra covid vaccine dose for kids under 5
Pfizer said Friday it was changing plans and testing three doses of its covid-19 vaccine in babies and preschoolers instead of the usual two. The addition of an extra dose came after a preliminary analysis found 2- to 4-year-olds didn’t have as strong an immune response as expected to special...
Penn State says omicron could lead to remote learning in spring semester
As Penn State University officials monitor the spread of the omicron variant, they are urging those in the University Park campus community to prepare to work remotely next semester. Penn State is planning to begin the spring semester in person. But with local covid-19 hospitalizations at an all-time high and...
Denmark seeks to close public venues to curb coronavirus
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark’s prime minister said Friday that his government is moving to close theaters, cinemas, concert halls, amusement parks, museums and art galleries as part of new restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the proposed measures also would require stores smaller...


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