Coronavirus

Roll Call reports: After nearly three years of pandemic- and insurrection-related security restrictions, tourists next week will be allowed into the House gallery, and unescorted visitors on official business will be able to enter House office buildings. The changes will take place as Republicans, some of whom have vocally fought against COVID-19 restrictions, are sworn into a majority of House …

NBC News reports: A new version of omicron has taken hold in the U.S., according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The subvariant of omicron, named XBB.1.5, has raised concerns about another potential wave of Covid cases following the busy holiday travel season. The CDC projected Friday that about 40% of confirmed U.S. …

CNBC reports: The Biden administration will require airline passengers traveling from China to test negative for Covid before entering the U.S., federal health officials said on Wednesday. All travelers originating from China, Hong Kong or Macau will be required to get tested for Covid two days before their departure to the U.S. The requirements, which apply regardless of nationality and …

CNBC reports: The U.S. government is considering imposing new Covid rules for travelers from China, officials said, citing concerns over virus-related data released by the Chinese government. The U.S. officials’ comments come after Japan’s recent measures which require a negative Covid test for travelers arriving from mainland China from Dec. 30. Travelers from China without a valid vaccination certificate will …

Reuters reports: In more than three decades of emergency medicine, Beijing-based doctor Howard Bernstein said, he has never seen anything like this. Patients are arriving at his hospital in ever-increasing numbers; almost all are elderly and many are very unwell with COVID and pneumonia symptoms, he said. “The hospital is just overwhelmed from top to bottom,” Bernstein told Reuters at …

The Daily Beast reports: China’s National Health Commission announced that it will cease publishing national daily COVID-19 case figures amid a surge of infections. Earlier this month, China loosened its stringent “zero-COVID” policy after mass protests. Although the country has narrowed its definition of a COVID death and reported fewer than 10 deaths in the past two weeks, a health …

Bloomberg News reports: Nearly 37 million people in China may have been infected with Covid-19 on a single day this week, according to estimates from the government’s top health authority, making the country’s outbreak by far the world’s largest. As many as 248 million people, or nearly 18% of the population, likely contracted the virus in the first 20 days …

Reuters reports: A Shanghai hospital has told its staff to prepare for a “tragic battle” with COVID-19 as it expects half of the city’s 25 million people will get infected by the end of next week, while the virus sweeps through China largely unchecked. Infections in China are likely to be more than a million a day with deaths at …

The New York Times reports: Mayor Eric Adams put his face mask on again on Tuesday and encouraged New Yorkers to do the same. Mr. Adams held a news conference at City Hall to urge residents to take precautions in the face of a winter surge of Covid-19 cases and other illnesses. “With the holiday season in full swing and …

The Hill reports: New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show the bivalent COVID-19 booster shot was effective at reducing the risk of hospitalization and emergency room visits. Reports released by the CDC Friday offer some of the first evidence of the booster’s effectiveness against hospitalizations and medical encounters. The boosters were especially effective in adults …

The Associated Press reports: The Biden administration is again making some free COVID-19 tests available to all U.S. households as it unveils its contingency plans for potential coronavirus surges this winter. After a three-month hiatus, the administration is making four rapid virus tests available through covidtests.gov starting Thursday, a senior administration official said. The administration is putting personnel and equipment …

The Washington Post reports: A study released Wednesday by the National Center for Health Statistics found that more than 3,500 Americans died of long-covid-related illness in the first 2½ years of the pandemic. While those deaths represent a small fraction of the 1 million deaths from the coronavirus, they reinforce the danger of ignoring the lingering symptoms that many patients …

Vice News reports: People who refused to get the COVID vaccine are far more likely to get into a traffic crash requiring hospitalization, a recently published study found, adding evidence to the theory that anti-vaxxers often demonstrate other kinds of dangerous antisocial behavior. The study, published in the American Journal of Medicine, looked at data from more than 11.2 million …

ProPublica reports: In a victory for public health advocates, a federal judge in Montana has blocked the state from implementing a law that would make it illegal for hospitals to ask employees if they are vaccinated. The measure, which passed last year, was the country’s most extreme anti-vaccination law. Health care providers in Montana had sued the state over the …

STAT News reports: This Wednesday will mark two years since nurse Sandra Lindsay became the first person in the U.S. to receive a Covid-19 vaccine outside of a clinical trial. A study released Tuesday by the Commonwealth Fund shows that in those two years, the Covid vaccines have averted over 3 million deaths in the U.S. The CDC estimates that …

The Independent reports: Dr Anthony Fauci, the outgoing director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who helped steer the country through the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, brushed off criticism from Twitter’s Elon Musk on Monday. Dr Fauci, who has faced hostility from conservatives for years due to his support of public health measures to limit …

Gothamist reports: New York City is experiencing a triple wave of respiratory viruses, and on Friday, city health officials warned residents to take extra precautions. Friday’s health advisory urged New Yorkers to mask up indoors and in crowded spaces, particularly if they’re at risk for severe illness (or know someone who is). The city health department is reporting more than …

CBS News reports: As the holidays near and health care facilities grapple with a “tripledemic” of viral respiratory infections, people are being urged to consider donning masks and calling out sick. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracked seasonal spikes in influenza, Sars-CoV-2 — the virus that causes Covid-19 — and respiratory syncytial virus or RSV, three viruses …

The Washington Post reports: The looming reversal — spurred by Republicans who had threatened to block passage of the $858 billion spending bill if the mandate wasn’t struck down — creates a rat’s nest for the Pentagon. Commanders whose job it was to enforce the mandate will face the onerous task of assessing whether — and how — to allow …

Axios reports: Congress may consider legislation later this week that would scrap the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for military service members. A rollback of the policy may be included in the National Defense Authorization Act, which is set to be unveiled Monday, as a compromise between Republicans and Democrats. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who is vying to become …