Coronavirus

Reuters reports: The vaccination records of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro are false, the country’s comptroller general’s office said on Thursday after an investigation regarding the alleged tampering of information on his COVID-19 vaccination card. The records show that Bolsonaro, a COVID-19 skeptic who publicly opposed the vaccine, received a dose of the immunizer in a public healthcare center in …

Politico Europe reports: Nearly 17,000 people may have died after taking hydroxycholoroquine during the first wave of COVID, according to a study by French researchers. The anti-malaria drug was prescribed to some patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic, “despite the absence of evidence documenting its clinical benefits,” the researchers point out in their paper, published …

The New York Daily News reports: With COVID, flu and other respiratory illnesses on the rise, the NYC public hospital system is bringing back masking requirements. The mandate applies to anyone entering New York H+H hospitals, community health centers and nursing homes. It went into effect just after Christmas. “As we’ve seen an increase in COVID, flu and RSV, this …

The New York Times reports: As the holiday season winds down and Covid-19 cases start to pick up, a variant called JN.1 has now become the most common strain of the virus spreading across the United States. JN.1, which emerged from the variant BA.2.86 and was first detected in the United States in September, accounted for 44 percent of Covid …

The Hill reports: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Thursday he tested positive for COVID-19, amid a nationwide spike in infections. The 82-year-old Sanders, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, he was experiencing “minimal” symptoms and will continue to isolate while working from his home in Vermont. The U.S. is seeing elevated levels of respiratory illness this …

CBS News reports: The new COVID-19 variant that scientists call JN.1 now makes up about 44.1% of COVID-19 cases across the country, the CDC estimated Friday, marking another week of the fast-spreading variant’s steep rise in the U.S. The increase is more than two times larger than the 21.3% that the CDC now estimates the strain made up of infections …

Axios reports: A fast-spreading new COVID-19 variant called JN.1 could drive a new wave of disease across the U.S. this holiday season just as other respiratory viruses are cresting, experts say. COVID modeler Jay Weiland estimated on Monday that JN.1 would become the dominant strain within a week and that daily new infections, now around 965,000, aren’t close to peaking. …

Axios reports: Wastewater analysis sites nationwide are showing high levels of COVID-19 as we head into the holiday travel season, per the latest CDC data. Almost every state reporting such data is showing at least “high” levels compared to baseline trends, with many reporting “very high” levels, as defined by the CDC. As of early December, 22 states had “very …

ABC News reports: A member of Britain’s House of Lords has acknowledged that she repeatedly lied about her links to a company that was awarded lucrative government contracts to supply protective masks and gowns during the coronavirus pandemic. Underwear tycoon Michelle Mone said that she had made an “error” in denying connections to the company PPE Medpro, and regretted threatening …

The City reports: The makers of the “Invisible Mask” — which New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda [photo] touted as a shield against COVID-19 in the weeks before Mayor Eric Adams brought him into the administration — have agreed to a $150,000 settlement following a FTC complaint that charged them with making a host of “deceptive claims.” Gary Kong, a …

The Messenger reports: Hospitalizations and deaths owed to COVID-19 are rising as the nation heads into the holidays, according to new data from the CDC. The CDC’s most recent report highlights a nearly 18% increase week over week in COVID hospitalizations. Concerningly, the data also shows a 25% increase in COVID deaths during the same week. The CDC estimates that …

Reuters reports: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told bereaved families at an official inquiry into the UK’s handling of COVID on Monday that he was “deeply sorry” and he hoped the country could learn lessons from the pandemic. “I just wanted to start by saying how deeply sorry I am to all of those who lost loved ones, family members …

The Messenger reports: Tens of thousands of Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, as the world braces for a fourth year dealing with the deadly virus. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, COVID hospitalizations are on the rise for the third straight week. COVID hospitalizations have increased by nearly 11%, resulting in almost 20,000 new hospitalizations …

Axios reports: The Biden administration for the first time will allow all schools to order free COVID-19 tests from the federal government ahead of the holidays, officials told Axios first. The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), an agency within HHS, has a stockpile of hundreds of millions of COVID tests. It is teaming up with the Department of …

The Messenger reports: Getting at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before your first bout of infection can significantly cut the risk of developing long COVID, according to a new study. Researchers from Sweden, who published findings Wednesday on The BMJ, analyzed data from over half a million Swedes aged 18 and over, who registered their first COVID infection …

NBC News reports: A new Covid variant has become dominant in the U.S., but relatively few people have thus far gotten the new shots that could offer some protection against it. The variant, called HV.1, replaced EG.5 as the country’s most prevalent this week, according to data released Friday by the CDC. Just around 3.5 % of the U.S. population …

The Washington Examiner reports: The Senate voted to include an amendment offered by Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) to ban the Department of Transportation from using federal funding to enforce mask mandates in the upper chamber’s three-bill spending package on Wednesday. The Senate voted 59-38 in favor of the amendment that aims to prevent federal mask mandates on all modes of …

Memphis’s Fox affiliate reports: Four Mid-South pastors, including three from Memphis, and several business owners were indicted Tuesday in alleged schemes to steal thousands of dollars in COVID-19 relief money, officials said. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Tennessee, they collectively defrauded more than $950,000 from federal programs, including the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), …

Fort Myers’ PBS affiliate reports: After winning a decisive appellate court battle that required the Florida Department of Health to turn over COVID-19 data withheld from the public during the height of the pandemic, the legal battle over the records has ended with a settlement agreement. A media release from the Florida Center for Government Accountability said the group and …

Miami’s NBC affiliate reports: A Florida man and his three adult sons were sentenced Friday for selling a toxic industrial bleach as a fake COVID-19 cure through their online church. A federal judge in Miami sentenced Jonathan Grenon, 37, and Jordan Grenon, 29, to 12 years and seven months in prison, while Mark Grenon, 66, and Joseph Grenon, 36, each …