Tag Archives: pandemic

WHO Declares “End Is In Sight” For COVID Pandemic

Reuters reports: The world has never been in a better position to end the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, his most optimistic outlook yet on the years-long health crisis which has killed over six million people. “We are not there yet. But the end is in sight,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told …

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Feds: US Life Expectancy Dropped 11 Months In 2021

ABC News reports: U.S. life expectancy dropped for the second consecutive year in 2021, falling by nearly a year from 2020, according to a government report being released Wednesday. In the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the estimated American lifespan has shortened by nearly three years. The last comparable decrease happened in the early 1940s, during the height …

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CDC Ends COVID Quarantine, Testing Recommendations

The Associated Press reports: The nation’s top public health agency relaxed its COVID-19 guidelines Thursday, dropping the recommendation that Americans quarantine themselves if they come into close contact with an infected person. The CDC also said people no longer need to stay at least 6 feet away from others. The changes, which come more than 2 1/2 years after the …

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Analysis: 12,500 Americans Died Of COVID-19 In July

USA Today reports: “COVID is over” might trend within social media circles, but weekly U.S. death tolls tell a different story. The pace of COVID-19 deaths has remained relatively steady since May, despite an uptick in July to about 400 a day, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. In July, more than 12,500 Americans died …

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Biden Tests Negative For COVID, Continues Isolation

NPR reports: President Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday, according to a letter from White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor, but he will continue to isolate until he tests negative a second time. “The President continues to feel very well,” O’Connor wrote The president first tested positive for the virus on July 21. The administration said he experienced only …

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China Locks Down One Million Over Four COVID Cases

CNN reports: The Chinese metropolis of Wuhan has shut down a district of almost a million people after detecting four asymptomatic Covid cases, as the original epicenter of the pandemic takes no chances in preventing another outbreak under China’s stringent zero-Covid policy. Authorities in Wuhan’s Jiangxia district, home to more than 970,000 people, announced Wednesday its main urban areas would …

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COVID Hospitalizations Are Surging In New York City

The New York Daily News reports: Coronavirus infection rates are spiking in the city with more than 15% of all tests coming back positive on average in the past week, data from the Health Department shows — and it remains unclear if Mayor Adams will take any new steps to address the pandemic resurgence. While the weeklong test positivity average …

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WaPo: Latest Subvariant Is Raising Risk Of Reinfection

The Washington Post reports: America has decided the pandemic is over. The coronavirus has other ideas. The latest omicron offshoot, BA.5, has quickly become dominant in the United States, and thanks to its elusiveness when encountering the human immune system, is driving a wave of cases across the country. Many people now see the pandemic as part of the fabric …

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North Korea Blames “Alien Things” For COVID Outbreak

Ars Technica reports: After an intense, detailed investigation, North Korea has determined what sparked an explosive outbreak of COVID-19 that has led to over 4.7 million “fevers” within its borders since late April. The culprit: “alien things” blown into the country from the South. According to a report from the official KCNA news agency, North Korea’s outbreak began in early …

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NYC Drops COVID Alert System Amid “High” Case Level

The New York Times reports: New York City suddenly removed its color-coded coronavirus alert system this week just as newer Omicron subvariants are fueling another rise in cases and hospitalizations. Mayor Eric Adams and health officials quietly took down the city’s high profile alert system that warned New Yorkers when they were at a greater risk of catching the virus …

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DOJ Charges Power Rangers Actor With COVID Fraud

ABC News reports: A ’90s actor who starred in the hit TV show “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” has been charged with perpetuating a scheme to defraud the U.S. government of CARES Act funds, according to the Department of Justice. Austin St. John, who played the red Power Ranger on the show, which aired from 1993 to 1995, was one of …

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20 NY Judges Test COVID+ After Weekend Retreat

The New York Times reports: More than 70 New York City judges descended on a Long Island resort last week to enjoy an annual three-night retreat. In the days after, 20 tested positive for the coronavirus. Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for New York’s courts, confirmed Wednesday that the judges had tested positive. He said that, to his knowledge, none of …

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Apple Extends WFH Option, Reinstates Office Mask Rule

From Apple’s memo to employees today: Based on current conditions, we have two updates to share: First, we are temporarily asking team members to wear masks in common spaces, meeting rooms, hallways, and elevators—in general, all areas outside of your personal workspace. Second, we are extending the phase-in period of the pilot and maintaining two days a week in the …

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NYC Moves To High Level COVID Alert As Cases Climb

NBC New York reports: New York City raised its COVID alert level to high on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after warning of the possibility, as a fifth pandemic wave fueled by the most contagious COVID subvariants yet tighten their grip on the metro area and the nation. The five boroughs had been in a “medium” COVID alert state since …

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NYC Mask Mandate May Return Under High Alert Level

Bloomberg News reports: New York City is preparing to hit a high Covid transmission level in the coming days that would have it reconsidering mask requirements in public places. “If NYC’s Alert Level is raised to High, the City will consider requiring face masks in all public indoor settings,” according to guidance on the city health department’s website. New cases …

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Kim Jong Un Blasts His Own Officials As COVID Rages

Agence France-Presse reports: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un criticised “irresponsible” officials over the country’s pandemic response and ordered the army to help distribute medicine, state media said on Monday, as Seoul offered Covid-19 aid. More than a million people have been ill with what Pyongyang refers to as “fever”, state media said, despite leader Kim ordering nationwide lockdowns in a …

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North Korea Reports 350,000 Likely COVID Cases

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 …

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North Korea Enters Nationwide COVID Lockdown

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 …

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Biden Marks “One Million Americans Lost To COVID”

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 …

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Gallup: Only 31% Worried About COVID As Cases Rise

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 …

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