Coronavirus

CNN reports: The state of Florida has been struck particularly hard by the latest surge, with more than 17,000 people hospitalized with Covid-19, according to data Saturday from the US Department of Health & Human Services. And in the week beginning August 14, at least five police departments in South Florida reported the deaths of law enforcement officers from Covid-19. …

The Washington Post reports: Fresh data out of Israel is providing encouraging news about the effectiveness of coronavirus boosters in seniors. A study by the Israeli Health Ministry found that a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provided four times as much protection against infection as two doses in people 60 and older. The level of protection was five to …

The Washington Post reports: Facebook said Saturday evening that an article raising concerns that the coronavirus vaccine could lead to death was the top performing link in the United States on its platform from January through March of this year, acknowledging the widespread reach of such material for the first time. It also said another site that pushed covid-19 misinformation …

The Detroit Metro Times reports: Police are investigating a man who flashed a Nazi salute and chanted “Heil Hitler” during a raucous Birmingham Board of Education meeting over a mask mandate for students. Unruly anti-maskers booed and hurled insults at board members and speakers, including a high school student, who spoke in favor of face coverings during the meeting Wednesday …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he has now tested negative for COVID-19, four days after testing positive for the virus. “I am told that my infection was brief and mild because of the vaccination I received,” Abbott said in a video he posted on Twitter Saturday afternoon. “So, I encourage others who have not yet received …

Louisville’s CBS News affiliate reports: The Kentucky governor’s efforts to aggressively combat COVID-19 suffered a landmark legal defeat Saturday as the state’s high court cleared the way for new laws to rein in his emergency powers. The state Supreme Court ordered a lower court to dissolve an injunction that temporarily blocked the Republican-backed laws strictly limiting Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s …

NBC News reports: The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson and his wife, Jacqueline, were being treated at a Chicago hospital Saturday after being diagnosed with Covid-19, their representatives said in a statement. The Rainbow Push Coalition, a civil rights organization founded by Jackson, did not say why Jackson, 79 and Jacqueline, 77, had to be hospitalized. “Doctors are currently monitoring the …

The Hill reports: In his isolation order, Mississippi State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs said that people had to isolate themselves at home once they become aware that they are infected. People are expected to remain home for 10 days since becoming ill or testing positive for COVID-19, regardless of whether they are fully vaccinated. The order stated that refusal to …

Nashville’s NBC News affiliate reports: Conservative radio talk show host Phil Valentine has died after weeks in a Nashville area hospital battling COVID-19, according to his station, SuperTalk 99.7 WTN. During a live broadcast at 4:15 p.m. Saturday, several of Valentine’s coworkers and close friends announced they had spoken with Valentine’s brother Mark, who confirmed the 61-year-old had passed away …

CNN reports: Some of music’s biggest names will descend on the Great Lawn at New York City’s iconic Central Park for the “We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert” on Saturday to perform for a vaccinated crowd of 60,000. The event, which is being aired exclusively on CNN, is produced by legendary music executive Clive Davis in coordination with the city …

The Montgomery Advertiser reports: A federal team of health care workers is deploying to a south Alabama hospital amid an ongoing “crush” of COVID-19 patients threatening to overwhelm the state’s health system. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will send a 13-person team to South Baldwin Regional Medical Center in Foley, Alabama. The director of the team is …

The Daily Beast reports: You know it’s bad when the Food and Drug Administration has to take to Twitter on a Saturday to encourage people not to take the “horse paste” drug ivermectin to fight COVID-19. “You are not a horse. You are not a cow,” the agency tweeted, not bothering to dance around the facts. “Seriously, y’all. Stop it.” …

The Dallas Morning News reports: A Texas soldier has been charged in federal court in Fort Worth with selling bogus COVID-19 vaccination cards on Instagram, federal court records show. Even as airlines, gyms, restaurants and other businesses refuse to accept unvaccinated customers, some remain reluctant to get the shot. That has fueled a growing black market for bogus COVID-19 vaccination …

The Palm Beach Post reports: Florida once again broke a coronavirus death toll record as its case count soared past 3 million Friday. The state logged 150,740 new COVID-19 cases and 1,486 deaths among residents over the past week, more than it ever has. That’s more than any other state, data reported Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control …

Reuters reports: Australian police clashed with hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters in Melbourne and Sydney on Saturday as officials reported the country’s highest ever single-day rise in Covid-19 cases. Mounted police used pepper spray in Melbourne to break up crowds surging toward police lines, while smaller groups of protesters were prevented from congregating in Sydney by a large contingent of riot …

But the headline is only the start of the story. The Daily Beast reports: A Republican legislator in Maine who lost his wife to COVID-19 last week appeared at a rally on Tuesday that featured a GOP colleague who compared the state’s Democratic governor to a Nazi doctor who performed deadly experiments on Jews during the Holocaust. State Rep. Chris …

ABC News reports: The Mississippi State Department of Health sent a health alert Friday warning health care providers about a drug used to deworm livestock that some are using to treat and prevent COVID-19. At least 70% of the recent calls have been related to ingestion of livestock or animal formulations of ivermectin purchased at livestock supply centers. Mississippi Poison …

The New York Times reports: The Food and Drug Administration is pushing to approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s two-dose Covid-19 vaccine on Monday, further expediting an earlier timeline for licensing the shot, according to people familiar with the agency’s planning. Regulators were working to finish the process by Friday but were still working through a substantial amount of paperwork and negotiation with the …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: The city of Orlando and its water utility on Friday appealed to residents to cut back sharply on water usage for at least several weeks because of a pandemic-triggered shortage of liquid oxygen used to treat water. Orlando Utilities Commission consumes 10 tankers of liquid oxygen each week to remove odor and color from water. A …

The Daily Beast reports: Despite a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, the National Rifle Association is moving ahead with its massive annual conference in Texas next month—and major gun manufacturers are having second thoughts, with some even asking NRA officials to call off the event entirely. Most of the largest American gun makers have taken steps to drop out, from informing …