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Coronavirus category, Page 24

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Omicron coronavirus variant found in multiple states
NEW YORK — The omicron variant of covid-19, which had been undetected in the United States before the middle of this week, had been discovered in at least five states by the end of Thursday, showing yet again how mutations of the virus can circumnavigate the globe with speed and...
Omicron and delta spell return of unpopular restrictions
PARIS — Greeks who are over age 60 and refuse coronavirus vaccinations could be hit with monthly fines of more than one-quarter of their pensions — a get-tough policy that the country’s politicians say will cost votes but save lives. In Israel, potential carriers of the new omicron variant could...
90% of Allegheny County employees comply with vaccine mandate; 2 sheriff’s employees suspended without pay
More than 90% of Allegheny County’s 5,000 executive-branch employees showed proof of getting vaccinated against covid-19 by Wednesday — the deadline to do so or risk being fired, county officials report. Just two of more than 200 employees with the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office — an independent entity — still...
Western Pa. covid hospitalizations hit highest point in more than 10 months
As the threat of the omicron variant looms, covid-19 hospitalizations in Western Pennsylvania have hit their highest point in more than 10 months. Allegheny County on Wednesday reported 504 covid patients in hospitals, the most since there were 535 patients on Jan. 12, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department...
Mark Meadows: Trump tested positive for covid before 1st presidential debate with Biden 
Former President Donald Trump reportedly tested positive for covid-19 and was suffering symptoms of the disease before his chaotic first debate with then-candidate Joe Biden. Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, says in his forthcoming memoir that Trump tested positive for the deadly virus the weekend before...
Daystar CEO Marcus Lamb dies after covid diagnosis
DALLAS — Marcus Lamb, CEO and founder of the conservative Christian Daystar Television Network who was outspoken against covid-19 vaccines, has died at age 64 after contracting the virus. Daystar confirmed his death Tuesday. “It’s with a heavy heart we announce that Marcus Lamb, president and founder of Daystar Television...
U.S. reports 1st case of omicron variant in returning traveler
SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. recorded its first confirmed case of the omicron variant Wednesday — in a vaccinated traveler who returned to California after a trip to South Africa — as scientists around the world race to establish whether the new, mutant version of the coronavirus is more dangerous...
Brazil and Japan report 1st cases of the omicron variant
Brazil and Japan joined the rapidly widening circle of countries to report cases of the omicron variant Tuesday, while new findings indicate the mutant coronavirus was already in Europe close to a week before South Africa sounded the alarm. The Netherlands’ RIVM health institute disclosed that patient samples dating from...
Allegheny Health Network can handle influx of covid-19 patients, but staffing, supply costs surging, CFO says
Despite confronting spiking staffing costs while covid-19 hospitalizations climb, Allegheny Health Network’s leaders say they’re confident in the 14-hospital system’s ability to treat influxes in patients as the pandemic rages on. “We have capacity and we’ve got the equipment that we need,” AHN Chief Financial Officer James Rohrbaugh told the...
FDA panel narrowly backs covid-19 pill from Merck
WASHINGTON — A panel of U.S. health advisers on Tuesday narrowly backed a closely watched covid-19 pill from Merck, setting the stage for a likely authorization of the first drug that Americans could take at home to treat the coronavirus. A Food and Drug Administration panel voted 13-10 that the...
Mask mandate to remain in place pending Pa. Supreme Court hearing next week
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday said the statewide school mask mandate will remain in place as the state’s highest court gets ready to weigh arguments on the issue next week. On Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration asked the appellate court to keep the masking order in place after the...
Greece to mandate covid-19 vaccination for those 60 and over
ATHENS, Greece — Residents in Greece over age 60 will be fined 100 euros (more than $110) a month if they fail to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, under the first general covid-19 mandate announced by the country’s government. The measure was announced in response to a surge in cases...
Oklahoma bid for National Guard exception to vaccine mandate denied
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday rejected a request by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt that his state’s National Guard be exempt from a Pentagon requirement that all military members be vaccinated against covid-19. Stitt, a Republican, had asked Austin in early November to suspend the mandate for members...
‘More questions than answers’ about latest covid variant omicron, Pittsburgh doctors say
The newly flagged covid-19 variant dubbed omicron likely already has hit the United States — though scientists aren’t yet sure how contagious or dangerous the latest mutated version of the novel coronavirus might be. “Anytime a new variant is found, scientists start studying to see if it’s more contagious —...
Facing omicron threat, CDC says all adults should get covid-19 booster vaccine 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday strengthened its recommendations on who should get boosters. In a statement, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that all vaccinated adults should get a booster as long as they received their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna shot at least...
Biden vaccine rule for health workers blocked in 10 states 
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A federal judge on Monday blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing a coronavirus vaccine mandate on thousands of health care workers in 10 states that had brought the first legal challenge against the requirement. The court order said that the federal Centers for Medicare &...
WHO warns that new coronavirus variant poses ‘very high’ risk
GENEVA — The World Health Organization warned Monday that the global risk from the omicron variant is “very high” based on the early evidence, saying the mutated coronavirus could lead to surges with “severe consequences.” The assessment from the U.N. health agency, contained in a technical paper issued to member...
Covid outbreak hits Westmoreland jail as caseload surges throughout county
Westmoreland County Prison is dealing with another coronavirus outbreak. Nine inmates tested positive Monday at the Hempfield lockup after 37 active cases were discovered last week, warden Brian Kline said. “We shut down the work release program last week and stopped all outside volunteers from entering the jail,” Kline said....
Pa. House GOP leader diagnosed with breakthrough case of covid
Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre County, is quarantining at home after being diagnosed with a breakthrough case of covid-19. Benninghoff, 59, who was fully vaccinated against the coronavirus earlier in the year, developed mild symptoms prior to the Thanksgiving holiday and got tested. On Monday, he received his...
Couple detained on plane after leaving Dutch quarantine
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch military police arrested a husband and wife Sunday who had left a hotel where they were being quarantined after testing positive for covid-19 and boarded a plane to fly home to Spain. A spokeswoman for the local security authority that covers Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport said...
Doctor: Many South Africans ill in omicron surge have mild symptoms
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s rapid increase in covid-19 cases attributed to the new omicron variant is resulting in mostly mild symptoms, doctors say. “We’ve seen a sharp increase in cases for the past 10 days. So far they have mostly been very mild cases, with patients having flu-like symptoms: dry...
Some states know a lot about vaccinated people who have gotten covid-19. Pennsylvania doesn’t
PHILADELPHIA — Each week in Oregon, state health officials produce a public report documenting how many people have contracted the coronavirus even after getting the vaccine, including data about their ages, races, the counties where they live, which covid-19 variants they caught and how sick it made them. That type...
New variant cause for concern, not panic, Biden tells U.S.
President Joe Biden called the new coronavirus variant omicron a cause for concern but “not a cause for panic” Monday and said he was not considering any widespread U.S. lockdown. He urged Americans anew to get fully vaccinated, including booster shots, and return to face masks indoors in public settings...
What we know — and don’t know — about omicron, the new covid variant
LONDON — South African scientists identified a new version of the coronavirus that they say is behind a recent spike in covid-19 infections in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province. It’s unclear where the new variant first emerged, but scientists in South Africa alerted the World Health Organization in recent...
Dutch, Australians find omicron variant; others curb travel
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The Netherlands confirmed 13 cases of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus on Sunday and Australia found two as the countries half a world apart became the latest to detect it in travelers arriving from southern Africa. Israel decided to bar entry to foreigners and...


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