Tag Archives: pandemic

The Associated Press reports: Ohio today became the latest state to summon the National Guard to help overwhelmed medical facilities. Experts in Nebraska warned that its hospitals soon may need to ration care. Medical officials in Kansas and Missouri are delaying surgeries, turning away transfers and desperately trying to hire traveling nurses, as cases double and triple in an eerie …

NBC New York reports: Almost exactly one month after Mayor Bill de Blasio triumphantly announced tens of thousands of fully vaccinated people could return to Times Square to celebrate New Year’s Eve in person this year, the state saw it’s highest single-day reporting of new COVID infections. The previous record, set 11 months ago on Jan. 14, crumbled when Gov. …

Changing America reports: As preliminary data begins to roll in surrounding the omicron variant, one symptom is beginning to stand out among the others: Many of those infected have reported having a scratchy throat as opposed to a sore throat. A number of U.K. media outlets have reported on this symptom, which originally gained traction when the initial cases of …

Vice News reports: There are more than 70 active players on the NFL’s COVID-19 list, out of approximately 1,700 players in the entire league. Sixty-five players have tested positive in the last two days, including a single-day record on Monday of 37 new cases. The Los Angeles Rams, fresh off a win Monday night, was forced to close its practice …

Philadelphia’s Fox News affiliate reports: Philadelphia health officials are warning residents against hosting holiday gatherings involving multiple households due to a recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Philadelphia and across the rest of Pennsylvania. Dr. Cheryl Bettigole issued the plea during a Wednesday COVID-19 response briefing. On Monday, health officials stated that the city has seen COVID-19 infections rate double …

Forbes reports: Some 163,000 Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. could have been prevented by vaccination since June this year and the virus is one of the leading causes of death in all age groups, according to research by the Kaiser Family Foundation, as cases soar amid concerns the new omicron variant will trigger another wave of infections. Covid-19 was the …

The Associated Press reports:  One year ago, the biggest vaccination drive in American history began with a flush of excitement in an otherwise gloomy December. Trucks loaded with freezer-packed vials of a COVID-19 vaccine that had proved wildly successful in clinical trials fanned out across the land, bringing shots that many hoped would spell the end of the crisis. The …

The Hill reports: Minnesota hospital leaders are warning in a full-page newspaper ad that they are “overwhelmed” amid a COVID-19 surge and are urging the public to take action. “Our emergency departments are overfilled, and we have patients in every bed in our hospitals,” write the leaders of nine hospital systems in the state, including the Mayo Clinic and North …

The New York Times reports: Seventy-five percent of people who have died of the virus in the United States — or about 600,000 of the nearly 800,000 who have perished so far — have been 65 or older. One in 100 older Americans has died from the virus. For people younger than 65, that ratio is closer to 1 in …

Reuters reports: The United States on Sunday reached 800,000 coronavirus-related deaths, as the nation braces for a potential surge in infections due to more time spent indoors with colder weather and the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus. The milestone means the U.S. death toll from this one virus now exceeds the entire population of North Dakota. Even with …

The Washington Post reports: European leaders and scientists warned Friday that the omicron variant could become dominant in some countries startlingly soon, overtaking the delta variant, which has remained the most common version of the virus globally for months. “We expect it to overtake delta within days, not weeks,” Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, said Friday about the …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: Gov. Tony Evers is asking the Biden administration to send 100 federal health care workers to Wisconsin and is utilizing National Guard nurses in state mental health hospitals as hundreds of health care facilities say they need help to combat staffing shortages and a surge of COVID-19 cases. Hospitals and long-term care facilities in Wisconsin are …

The Washington Post reports: South Africa’s new daily coronavirus cases have almost tripled in three days, according to new figures released Thursday, raising alarms over the possible spread of the new omicron variant recently detected by the country’s scientists. New daily confirmed cases rose to 11,535 on Thursday from 8,561 on Wednesday and 4,373 the previous day, according to official …

Euronews reports: A group of prominent Russian doctors has invited anti-vaccine celebrities and politicians to visit hospitals treating COVID-19 patients. Eleven leading doctors signed the open letter on Wednesday, calling on the public figures to see the effects of the virus firsthand. The letter was addressed to a dozen of the loudest anti-vaccine voices that have spread doubts about coronavirus …

Axios reports: U.S. public health officials were set to speak Friday with their South Africa counterparts as they sought scientific details about a new COVID-19 variant already prompting European and Asian countries to enact new travel restrictions. Driving the news: Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, told CNN Friday “we’re rushing now to get that scientific data to try …

Euronews reports: Concerns over a new COVID-19 variant detected in South Africa have prompted fresh travel restrictions in Italy and Germany on Friday as Brussels mulls EU-wide flight restrictions. The European Commission will propose to suspend air travel from southern Africa amid concerns over the variant, EC President Ursula Von der Leyen [photo] said on Friday. The proposal could be …

The Associated Press reports: A new coronavirus variant has been detected in South Africa that scientists say is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province, Health Minister Joe Phaahla announced Thursday. The coronavirus evolves as it spreads and many new variants, including those with worrying …

CNBC reports: CVS Health said Thursday that it will close about 900 stores over the next three years, as it adjusts to shoppers who are buying more online. The company announced in a news release that it will focus more of its efforts on digital growth and turning its stores into destinations that offer a range of health-care services, from …

Changing America reports: A new surge in coronavirus cases in Europe is causing concern in the United States, with some doctors and researchers predicting an equally troubling spike in the U.S. According to the latest data from the CDC, the average of new daily coronavirus cases in the U.S. is over 85,000, a more than 14 percent increase from a …

The New York Times reports: Marking a pivotal transition in a return to normalcy, New York now faces the same question as cities like Philadelphia and Atlanta that are weighing proposals to keep outdoor dining: Which emergency innovations borne of the pandemic should remain as permanent legacies? In New York, the program has turned into a contentious battle over who …