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Coronavirus category, Page 25

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Italy, Germany report cases of omicron covid variant
LONDON — News reports in Italy and Germany say that both countries have confirmed cases of the omicron covid-19 variant. The Italian news agency LaPresse says an Italian who traveled to Mozambique has tested positive for the omicron variant. The business traveler landed in Rome on Nov. 11 and returned...
Britain tightens covid rules as world on alert over omicron
LONDON — The U.K. tightened up rules Saturday on mask-wearing and on testing of international arrivals after finding two cases of the new potentially more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus as governments around the world sought to shore up their defenses. Amid fears that the recently identified new variant...
New variant hits sports just as they were nearing normality
Golf, cricket and rugby became the first major sports to be affected by the new covid-19 variant on Friday, prompting fears of renewed travel restrictions and disrupted events just as they were returning to normal nearly two years into the pandemic. European golfers withdrew midway through the season-opening DP World...
World races to contain omicron variant — the new covid threat
Nearly two years into the covid-19 pandemic, the world raced Friday to contain a new coronavirus variant potentially more dangerous than the one that has fueled relentless waves of infection on nearly every continent. A World Health Organization panel named the variant “omicron” and classified it as a highly transmissible...
FDA: Merck covid pill effective, experts will review safety
Federal health regulators say an experimental covid-19 pill from Merck is effective against the virus, but they will seek input from outside experts on risks of birth defects and other potential problems during pregnancy. The Food and Drug Administration posted its analysis of the pill ahead of a public meeting...
Explainer: What is this new covid variant in South Africa?
LONDON — South African scientists have identified a new version of the coronavirus this week that they say is behind a recent spike in covid-19 infections in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province. It’s unclear from where the new variant actually arose, but it was first detected by scientists in...
Families struggle with how to hold 2nd pandemic Thanksgiving
Back in the spring, Pauline Criel and her cousins talked about reuniting for Thanksgiving at her home near Detroit after many painful months of seclusion because of the covid-19 pandemic. But the virus had a different plan. Michigan is now the nation’s hot spot. Hospitals there are teeming with patients,...
Health official: Breakthrough cases make up 38% of Allegheny County’s cases
Vaccinated residents made up about 38% of Allegheny County’s roughly 20,000 covid-19 cases in October and November, a health official said Wednesday. That’s around 7,700 cases among the vaccinated, said Dr. LuAnn Brink, chief epidemiologist for the county health department. Brink filled in for Dr. Debra Bogen, the county’s health...
White House: 92% of fed workers under mandate are vaccinated
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for millions of federal workers seems to be working, with no apparent disruption to law enforcement, intelligence-gathering or holiday travel. On Tuesday, one day after the deadline for compliance, 92% of the 3.5 million federal workers covered by Biden’s mandate reported to the...
Putin tests experimental nasal vaccine against covid-19
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he has taken an experimental nasal vaccine against the coronavirus, three days after he received his booster shot, as Russia faces its worst surge of infections and deaths since the pandemic began. Putin was vaccinated with Sputnik V, Russia’s domestically developed covid-19...
U.S. to require vaccines for all border crossers in January
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will require essential, nonresident travelers crossing U.S. land borders, such as truck drivers, government and emergency response officials, to be fully vaccinated beginning Jan. 22, the administration planned to announce. A senior administration official said the requirement, which the White House previewed in October, brings...
Vaccines making Thanksgiving easier, but hot spots remain
The U.S. is facing its second Thanksgiving of the pandemic in better shape than the first time around, thanks to the vaccine, though some regions are seeing surges of covid-19 cases that could get worse as families travel the country for gatherings that were impossible a year ago. Nearly 200...
WHO Europe warns of possible surge in covid deaths ahead
GENEVA — The World Health Organization’s Europe office says projections show its 53-country region could face another 700,000 deaths in the coronavirus pandemic by next spring, topping 2 million in total. WHO Europe, which is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, also cited growing evidence of a decline in protection against infection...
How covid shots for kids help prevent dangerous new variants
Cadell Walker rushed to get her 9-year-old daughter Solome vaccinated against covid-19 — not just to protect her but to help stop the coronavirus from spreading and spawning even more dangerous variants. “Love thy neighbor is something that we really do believe, and we want to be good community members...
Official: More than 90% of fed workers got shots by deadline
WASHINGTON — More than 90% of federal workers received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine by Monday’s deadline set by President Joe Biden. Biden announced in September that more than 3.5 million federal workers were required to undergo vaccination, with no with option to get regularly tested instead,...
GOP embraces natural immunity as substitute for vaccines
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Republicans fighting President Joe Biden’s coronavirus vaccine mandates are wielding a new weapon against the White House rules: natural immunity. They contend that people who have recovered from the virus have enough immunity and antibodies to not need covid-19 vaccines, and the concept has been invoked by...
Ask the doctor: Excela’s Dr. Fox weighs in on vaccines, Thanksgiving gatherings
The Tribune-Review asked Dr. Carol Fox, chief medical officer at Excela Health, a few questions regarding vaccines and holiday gatherings. Here are her responses: Q: Should people consider the vaccination status of others when planning holiday gatherings? A: I think that would be wise. Ideally, everyone that you gather with...
Facing surge, Austria will mandate covid-19 shots, lock down
Austria announced a national lockdown and a plan to mandate vaccinations as coronavirus infections hit a record high Friday, forcing the government to walk back promises that strict shutdowns were a thing of the past. While the scope of the proposed mandate was unclear, a blanket requirement would be a...
Scientists mystified, wary as Africa avoids covid disaster
HARARE, Zimbabwe — At a busy market in a poor township outside Harare this week, Nyasha Ndou kept his mask in his pocket, as hundreds of other people, mostly unmasked, jostled to buy and sell fruit and vegetables displayed on wooden tables and plastic sheets. As in much of Zimbabwe,...
U.S. opens covid boosters to all adults, urges them for 50+
WASHINGTON — The U.S. on Friday opened covid-19 booster shots to all adults and took the extra step of urging people 50 and older to seek one, aiming to ward off a winter surge as coronavirus cases rise even before millions of Americans travel for the holidays. Until now, Americans...
Coronavirus surge worsens in Midwest as states expand boosters 
A surge in cases in the Upper Midwest has some Michigan schools keeping students at home ahead of Thanksgiving and the military sending medical teams to Minnesota to relieve hospital staffs overwhelmed by covid-19 patients. The worsening outlook in the Midwest comes as booster shots are being made available to...
Fresh look at earliest covid cases points to live-animal market as most likely source
Conspiracy theorists need little more than suspicion, some cherry-picked facts and vibrant imaginations to spin tales about the origins of the covid-19 pandemic. But for the scientists working to establish the facts, the path to the truth is much more plodding. Their search will take them through a trove of...
German lawmakers shift in covid rules after dire warnings
German lawmakers approved new measures Thursday to rein in record coronavirus infections after the head of the country’s disease control agency warned Germany could face a “really terrible Christmas.” The measures passed in the Bundestag with votes from the center-left Social Democrats, the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats....
Florida teacher who sued for ivermectin dies from covid
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla — A Florida teacher hospitalized with covid-19 has died after her husband unsuccessfully sued to force doctors to treat her with ivermectin, a drug popular among some skeptics of accepted coronavirus treatments despite a lack of studies proving its effectiveness. Tamara Drock died Friday, 12 weeks...
U.S. offers investment to boost global covid vaccine capacity
Pressed to address gaping inequality in global covid-19 vaccines, the Biden administration took steps Wednesday to make billions of dollars available to drugmakers to scale up domestic production to share with the world and prepare for the next pandemic. Under the new initiative, the government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development...


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