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Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
As covid health emergency ends, tracking methods change, too
When home covid tests first became available, they were flying off the shelves and customers often struggled to find them. Now at Mainline Pharmacy’s Harrison City location, home covid tests are available, but kept behind the counter. Erica McClain, pharmacy tech, said people come in to ask for them “every...
Pink eye may be a sign you have covid: What to know about the new virus symptom
A common and relatively mild malady is yet another symptom people should watch for in the fight against covid-19, experts say. Conjunctivitis — commonly known as pink eye and typically brought on by a virus, bacteria or allergies — can be a symptom of a covid infection. And public health...
UPMC lifts mask mandate for most facilities
UPMC officials announced they are lifting mask mandates at most UPMC buildings starting Monday. “Universal masking is no longer required at most UPMC facilities and locations (beginning May 1), but will be required in specific patient care areas where patients are particularly vulnerable to infection,” according to a UPMC spokesperson....
Chinese man who reported on covid to be released after 3 years
HONG KONG — Chinese authorities were preparing Sunday to release a man who disappeared three years ago after publicizing videos of overcrowded hospitals and bodies during the covid-19 outbreak, a relative and another person familiar with his case said. Fang Bin and other members of the public who were dubbed...
Mask mandate ends at Allegheny Health Network while Excela, UPMC hold to CDC guidelines
Allegheny Health Network is lifting the mask mandate in place at hospitals, outpatient clinics and other “patient-facing” facilities as of Thursday, officials announced. “Throughout this pandemic, AHN has made every effort to help reduce the spread of covid-19 in our region while also keeping out patients, visitors and staff members...
FDA clears extra covid booster for some high-risk Americans
WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators on Tuesday cleared another booster dose of the Pfizer or Moderna covid-19 vaccines for older Americans and people with weak immune systems. The Food and Drug Administration also took steps to make coronavirus vaccinations simpler for everyone, saying that anyone getting a Pfizer or Moderna dose...
Free covid testing will fade with U.S. health emergency in May
WASHINGTON — When the covid-19 public health emergency ends in the U.S. next month, you’ll still have access to a multitude of tests but with one big difference: Who pays for them. For the first time, you may have to pick up some or all of the costs, depending on...
Biden ends covid national emergency after Congress acts
WASHINGTON — The U.S. national emergency to respond to the covid-19 pandemic ended Monday as President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan congressional resolution to bring it to a close after three years — weeks before it was set to expire alongside a separate public health emergency. The national emergency allowed...
Court blocks covid-19 vaccine mandate for U.S. government workers
NEW ORLEANS — President Joe Biden’s order that federal employees get vaccinated against covid-19 was blocked Thursday by a federal appeals court. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected arguments that Biden, as the nation’s chief executive, has the same authority as the CEO of a...
Biden signs bill on covid origins declassification
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill Monday that directs the federal government to declassify as much intelligence as possible about the origins of covid-19 more than three years after the start of the pandemic. The legislation, which passed both the House and Senate without dissent, directs the...
Anthony Fauci documentary on PBS covers a career of crises 
NEW YORK — There’s a moment in the new PBS documentary about Dr. Anthony Fauci when a protestor holds up a handmade sign reading, “Dr. Fauci, You Are Killing Us.” It says something about Fauci that it’s not initially clear when that sign was waved in anger — in the...
Did raccoon dogs start covid pandemic? Western Pa. experts weigh in
After international scientists discovered a potential link between the origin of the covid-19 virus and raccoon dogs, medical experts in Western Pennsylvania said the animal could be where the virus began. Samples collected from the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, China — where the first human cases of covid-19 were...
New covid origins data suggests pandemic linked to raccoon dogs
International scientists who examined previously unavailable genetic data from samples collected at a market close to where the first human cases of covid-19 were detected in China said they found suggestions the pandemic originated from animals, not a lab. Other experts have not yet verified their analysis, which also has...
China to reopen to tourists, resume all visas Wednesday
HONG KONG — China will reopen its borders to tourists and resume issuing all visas Wednesday as it tries to revive tourism and its economy following a three-year halt during the covid-19 pandemic. China is one of the last major countries to reopen its borders to tourists. The announcement Tuesday...
House votes to declassify info about origins of covid-19
WASHINGTON — The House voted unanimously on Friday to declassify U.S. intelligence information about the origins of covid-19, a sweeping show of bipartisan support near the third anniversary of the start of the deadly pandemic. The 419-0 vote was final approval of the bill, sending it to President Joe Biden’s...
A hearing on covid’s origins spurs call for rules to curb risky virus research 
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s top infectious disease official urged lawmakers during a hearing on the origins of the covid-19 pandemic to ban research that enhances a pathogen’s ability to spread or cause disease. Robert Redfield, who served as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at...
China dismisses FBI statement on covid-19 lab leak theory
BEIJING — For the second day in a row, China on Wednesday dismissed U.S. suggestions that the covid-19 pandemic may have been triggered by a virus that leaked from a Chinese laboratory. Responding to comments by FBI Director Christopher Wray, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the involvement of the...
U.S. agencies sow confusion over ‘lab leak’ theory of covid origins
A report from the Wall Street Journal on Monday said sources inside the U.S. Department of Energy now believe with “low confidence” that the global spread of covid-19 was “most likely” the result of a laboratory leak in China. The report contradicts four other U.S. agencies that have investigated how...
China says it’s been ‘open and transparent’ on covid origins
BEIJING — China on Tuesday pushed back at renewed suggestions that the covid-19 pandemic could have been the result of a lab leak, saying it has been “open and transparent” in the search for the virus’ origins. Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy assessed with “low confidence” that the pandemic...
Coronavirus origins still a mystery 3 years into pandemic
WASHINGTON — A crucial question has eluded governments and health agencies around the world since the covid-19 pandemic began: Did the virus originate in animals or leak from a Chinese lab? Now, the U.S. Department of Energy has assessed with “low confidence” in that it began with a lab leak,...
Report: Energy Department believes lab leak was most likely the source of covid 
A laboratory leak was the most likely origin of the covid-19 virus, according to findings by the U.S. Energy Department, The Wall Street Journal reported. A classified intelligence report provided to the White House and key members of Congress said the virus likely spread because of a mishap at a...
Health care vaccine mandate remains as some push for an end
LOWRY CITY, Mo. — At Truman Lake Manor in rural Missouri, every day begins the same way for every employee entering the nursing home’s doors — with a swab up the nose, a swirl of testing solution and a brief wait to see whether a thin red line appears indicating...
Covid could create crisis in Alex Murdaugh murder trial
Two jurors in the double murder trial of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh have covid, leaving the future of the proceedings in some doubt as they enter their fourth week on Monday. Judge Clifton Newman decided keep the trial going in the packed Colleton County courtroom after the remaining...
CDC adds covid vaccines to list of routine vaccines for kids and adults
ATLANTA — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has added covid-19 vaccinations to a list of suggested routine immunizations, but they in no way mandate vaccines. The CDC’s vaccine schedule, released Thursday, does not set requirements for vaccines in schools or in the workplace. State and local jurisdictions decide...
How will life change once the covid-19 emergency ends? 
WASHINGTON — The declaration of a covid-19 public health emergency three years ago changed the lives of millions of Americans by offering increased health care coverage, beefed-up food assistance and universal access to coronavirus vaccines and tests. Much of that is now coming to an end, with President Joe Biden’s...


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