Coronavirus

Reuters reports: At least one person confirmed to have COVID-19 has died in North Korea and hundreds of thousands have shown fever symptoms, state media said on Friday, offering hints at the potentially dire scale of country’s first confirmed outbreak of the pandemic. The data represents an unprecedented admission of an “explosive” outbreak in a country that had reported no …

The Associated Press reports: North Korea imposed a nationwide lockdown Thursday to control its first acknowledged COVID-19 outbreak after holding for more than two years to a widely doubted claim of a perfect record keeping out the virus that has spread to nearly every place in the world. The outbreak forced leader Kim Jong Un to wear a mask in …

The Washington Post reports: The biggest players in the U.S. meat industry pressed “baseless” claims of beef and pork shortages early in the pandemic to persuade the Trump White House to keep processing plants running, disregarding the coronavirus risks that eventually killed at least 269 workers, according to a special House committee. In a report released Thursday, the committee alleges …

Via press release from the White House: Today, we mark a tragic milestone: one million American lives lost to COVID-19. One million empty chairs around the dinner table. Each an irreplaceable loss. Each leaving behind a family, a community, and a nation forever changed because of this pandemic. Jill and I pray for each of them. To those who are …

Gallup reports: The steady increase in COVID-19 cases this past month is not disconcerting to Americans, as they are less worried now about the coronavirus than they were at the start of the year, and fewer are social distancing. Fewer than one in three U.S. adults (31%) say they are “very” or “somewhat worried” about getting COVID-19, statistically similar to …

Deutsche Welle reports: Face masks will not have to be worn in airports and on flights in Europe, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday. The easing of the measure will be effective as of May 16. However, authorities stressed masks were still the most effective way to …

NBC New York reports: The lingering impacts of the coronavirus pandemic continue to be felt in Manhattan, where fewer than 10% of office workers at major employers are returning to work five days a week. On any given day, a new survey out by the Partnership for New York City found that fewer than 40% of the island’s one million …

The Hill reports: The White House is preparing for as many as 100 million Americans to get infected with COVID-19 during a wave this fall and winter, a senior administration official said Friday, but warns there will not be enough vaccines or treatments to protect everyone unless Congress provides new funding. A senior administration official told a small group of …

The BBC reports: The Covid pandemic has caused the deaths of nearly 15 million people around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates. That is 13% more deaths than normally expected over two years. The WHO believes many countries undercounted the numbers who died from Covid – only 5.4 million were reported. In India, there were 4.7 million Covid …

NBC News reports: The U.S. on Wednesday surpassed 1 million Covid-19 deaths, according to data compiled by NBC News — a once unthinkable scale of loss even for the country with the world’s highest recorded toll from the virus. The number — equivalent to the population of San Jose, California, the 10th largest city in the U.S. — was reached …

Via press release from the State Department: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken tested positive for COVID-19 this afternoon via a PCR test. The Secretary is fully vaccinated and boosted against the virus and is experiencing only mild symptoms. He tested negative on Tuesday and again as recently as this morning. The Secretary has not seen President Biden in person …

CNN Business reports: Trevor Noah joked about the event becoming a superspreader — and now the cases are rolling in. The annual White House Correspondents Dinner, along with the festivities held in the days before and after it, have led to the inevitable spread of Covid. In the days since WHCD weekend, reporters and staffers from CNN, ABC News, NBC …

The New York Daily News reports: New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan declared Monday morning that the city has elevated its COVID threat level to a “medium risk alert” due to a recent increase in cases. It’s the first time Mayor Adams’ administration has upgraded the COVID threat level since he took control of City Hall on Jan. 1. …

From Airbnb’s corporate blog: As we’ve seen the heroic effort of health authorities and medical advancements around the globe, almost two thirds of the world’s population have received at least one dose of a vaccination against COVID-19. And many countries have now implemented living with COVID-19 plans, as it becomes part of our world. As a result of this new …

AM New York reports: In a statement, the Broadway League said that as of Sunday, the owners and operators of all 41 Broadway theaters are extending the mask requirement at least through the end of May but many will no longer check for vaccination status. The announcement recommended that theatergoers check individual theaters’ websites for more information. An update on …

The New York Times reports: Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are rising in a majority of American states, in what appears to be the first widespread increase since the peak of the Omicron surge in January. Reports of new cases were nearly flat in the United States at the beginning of April, but as the month draws to a close, they …

ABC News reports: In closed-door testimony to House investigators released on Friday, Dr. Bob Redfield, former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, former President Donald Trump appointees repeatedly blocked his public health experts from briefing the American public. Redfield described, in detail, efforts by the CDC to speak publicly on what …

The Associated Press reports: 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 people shed masks and other public …

The Washington Post reports: The United States is finally “out of the full-blown explosive pandemic phase” that has led to nearly 1 million deaths from covid-19 and more than two years of suffering and hardship, Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, said Wednesday. “We’re really in a transitional phase, from a deceleration of the numbers into hopefully a …

The New York Times reports: Vice President Kamala Harris’s Covid-19 diagnosis is raising questions that some in the nation’s capital wish would remain unspoken: Is it safe for President Biden to attend the so-called nerd prom, otherwise known as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner? Should the dinner even be held? Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Mr. Biden’s top medical adviser for …