New COVID-19 variant popping up in Europe, Asia worries scientists of uptick in US
LOS ANGELES – With coronavirus cases rising in parts of Europe and Asia, scientists worry that an extra-contagious version of the omicron variant may soon push cases up in the United States too. Experts are also keeping their eyes on another mutant: a rare delta-omicron hybrid that they say doesn’t pose much of a threat […]
How Hong Kong went from ‘zero-COVID’ to the world’s highest death rate
HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s worst outbreak of the pandemic didn’t come until 2022, but the scenes are right out of 2020. Hospitals and morgues are overflowing, with bodies left unattended in hallways and in rooms with living patients. Health care workers report burnout and low morale as they work 80 hours a week. And […]
Fully vaccinated will need fourth dose later this year, and new variant dubbed ‘deltacron’ detected in Europe
Fully vaccinated people will need a fourth shot later in 2022, according to the head of Pfizer Inc., who said that COVID-19 is not going to just go away in the coming years. Albert Bourla told CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” that people are going to have to learn to live […]
CDC Eases COVID-19 Mask Guidelines Based on County Risk Levels
The nation has turned a corner in its approach to addressing COVID-19 with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announcing on Friday afternoon that most people will no longer need to wear face coverings, so long as COVID-19 hospitalizations remain low. Read Full ArticleRead Full Article
School boards get death threats amid rage over race, gender, mask policies
This story contains text, images and audio clips with offensive language. The letter came to the home of Brenda Sheridan, a Loudoun County, Virginia school board member, addressed to one of her adult children. It threatened to kill them both unless she left the board. “It is too bad that your mother is an ugly communist […]
WHO laments ‘tragic’ 500,000 COVID death toll since Omicron
The World Health Organization lamented Tuesday that half a million COVID-19 deaths had been recorded since the Omicron variant was discovered, calling the toll “beyond tragic”. The WHO’s incident manager Abdi Mahamud said that 130 million cases and 500,000 deaths had been recorded globally since Omicron was declared a variant of concern in late November. […]
Covid deaths highest in a year as omicron targets the unvaccinated and elderly
Though considered milder than other coronavirus variants, omicron has infected so many people that it has driven the number of daily deaths beyond where it was last spring, before vaccines were widely available, according to Washington Post data. Omicron has been particularly lethal to people over 75, the unvaccinated and the medically vulnerable, according to […]
Novavax asks FDA to authorize its COVID-19 vaccine
Novavax on Monday said that it submitted a request to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an emergency use authorization (EUA) for its COVID-19 vaccine for adults. The request was based in part on results from two large clinical trials of approximately 30,000 participants in the U.S. and Mexico that the company said two doses […]
Sweden decides against recommending COVID vaccines for kids aged 5-11
STOCKHOLM, Jan 27 (Reuters) – (This Jan. 27 story corrects headline to kids aged 5-11 from 5-12) Sweden has decided against recommending COVID vaccines for kids aged 5-11, the Health Agency said on Thursday, arguing that the benefits did not outweigh the risks. “With the knowledge we have today, with a low risk for serious […]
Japan widens virus restrictions as omicron surges in cities
TOKYO (AP) — Restaurants and bars will close early in Tokyo and a dozen other areas across Japan beginning Friday as the country widens COVID-19 restrictions due to the omicron variant, which has caused cases to surge to new highs in metropolitan areas. The restraint, which is something of a pre-state of emergency, is the […]
