COVID-19

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Mask Mandate Returns to California
Mask Mandate
Returns to California
Dec 14, 2021 3:02 AM CST

Mask Mandate Returns to California

Starts Wednesday and runs for one month

(Newser) - California is bringing back a rule requiring people to wear masks indoors, a move aimed at containing a new type of the coronavirus as people gather with family and friends during the holidays. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration announced the new mandate will start Wednesday and last until Jan. 15,...

Some Hospitals Are Ditching Vaccine Mandates

There has been an 'exodus' of nurses in recent months

(Newser) - Some hospitals facing staff shortages and surges in COVID cases have decided that unvaccinated workers are better than no workers. Hospital operators, including some of America's largest, have been dropping vaccine mandates to retain or attract workers, the Wall Street Journal reports. President Biden's workplace vaccine mandate has...

New COVID Milestone Bears Extra Bad News for Elderly

As US reaches 800K deaths, numbers show that 1 in 100 older Americans have died from virus

(Newser) - The New York Times reports that the United States is "on the cusp" of reaching 800,000 COVID deaths. By Reuters' tally, we're already there, with the news group noting that death toll is more than the entire population of North Dakota. Either way, additional stats accompanying that...

Fat Acts as a &#39;Reservoir&#39; for COVID
Fat Acts as a
'Reservoir' for COVID
in case you missed it
Dec 12, 2021 5:40 PM CST

Fat Acts as a 'Reservoir' for COVID

Research may show why obese, overweight people are at greater risk

(Newser) - A recent study found obese people with COVID-19 were 113% more likely to end up in a hospital, 74% more likely to be admitted to an ICU, and 48% more likely to die than people of a healthy weight, per Science . New research might explain why. The study, posted online...

Omicron May Have Spread Early
State Saw Omicron Signs Early
Dec 10, 2021 5:30 PM CST

State Saw Omicron Signs Early

California wastewater samples suggest variant was present before WHO's announcement

(Newser) - A finding in California supports the fear that the omicron coronavirus variant was spreading even before it was globally recognized. The state Department of Public Health said a mutation found in a wastewater sample on Nov. 25, a day before the World Health Organization announced omicron's existence, indicated the...

Surge Brings Back State's Mask Mandate

COVID-19 infections could get 'out of control' in New York, governor says

(Newser) - Facing a winter surge in COVID-19 infections, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Friday that masks will be required in all indoor public places unless the businesses or venues implement a vaccine requirement. Hochul said the decision to reinstitute a mask mandate was based on the rising number of cases...

Pandemic Results in Record Life Insurance Payouts

Also, 15% year-to-year increase is biggest since 1918 influenza epidemic

(Newser) - The life insurance industry was forced to hand out more money in death-benefit payments in 2020, otherwise known as the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, than in any other single year—though 2021 has probably been worse, reports the Wall Street Journal . Death-benefit payments from US life insurers totalled $90....

FDA Approves Boosters for Some Teens

Specifically, those aged 16 and 17; CDC decision is pending

(Newser) - The US is expanding COVID-19 boosters, ruling that 16- and 17-year-olds can get a third dose of Pfizer’s vaccine, per the AP . The US and many other nations already were urging adults to get booster shots to pump up immunity that can wane months after vaccination, calls that intensified...

US Just Passed Major Vaccination Milestone

200M are now fully vaccinated

(Newser) - Milestones associated with the pandemic are usually described as grim, but the US passed a more positive one Wednesday: Some 200 million people, around 60% of the population, are now fully vaccinated, the Washington Post reports. The 200 million mark was reached as worries about the omicron variant spurred more...

Senate Votes to Nullify Biden's Workplace Vaccine Mandate

But the House is unlikely to take up the resolution regarding businesses

(Newser) - The Senate narrowly approved a resolution Wednesday to nullify the Biden administration's requirement that businesses with 100 or more workers have their employees be vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to weekly testing, the AP reports. The vote was 52-48. The Democratic-led House is unlikely to take the measure...

With Omicron Cases Rising, England Moves to 'Plan B'

New rules include COVID passes for nightclubs

(Newser) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, warning of the spread of the omicron variant and the "remorseless logic of exponential growth," announced Wednesday that England is moving to "Plan B" for limiting COVID cases. The new rules, like those already in place in Scotland and Wales, make masks...

Finland PM Apologizes for Nightclub Visit

The issue was that Sanna Marin had just learned she had been exposed to COVID

(Newser) - Another politician is issuing a mea culpa around COVID-related behavior. This one comes out of Finland, where Prime Minister Sanna Marin has apologized for going to a nightclub over the weekend after learning her foreign minister had tested positive. As far as slip-ups go, this one wasn't on...

Christmas Party Allegation Causes Boris Johnson Grief

Prime minister had denied his staff held such an event during last year's strict COVID lockdown

(Newser) - With the omicron variant posing new challenges around the globe as we head into the holiday season, an alleged Christmas party from last year is causing a headache for Boris Johnson. Despite his initial denials over the past week that there'd been such a gathering in 2020 at 10...

Here's How Pfizer's Vaccine Fares Against Omicron

3 doses 'offer a sufficient level of protection from disease of any severity'

(Newser) - Two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine may be enough to prevent serious illness with the omicron variant, but may not be enough to prevent an infection, the companies said Wednesday. However, "preliminary laboratory studies demonstrate that three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine neutralize the omicron variant,"...

Study Finds 'All Our Efforts' on Vaccines Not 'Trash' After All

Pfizer vaccine does appear to offer some protection against omicron, researchers find

(Newser) - When the omicron variant of COVID-19 first surfaced, a South Africa virologist was concerned it had evolved a new way of infecting cells, making vaccine antibodies entirely worthless. "Then all our efforts would be trash," Dr. Alex Sigal tells the New York Times . But, fortunately, that didn't...

Chief of Staff: Trump's Blood Oxygen Level Hit 86%

In new book, Mark Meadows says Trump's COVID case got scarier than was revealed

(Newser) - Update: Donald Trump's blood oxygen level dropped to about 86%, 10 points or so below what is considered normal, within hours of announcing he'd tested positive for COVID-19 last year, according to his former chief of staff. The New York Times has more details from Mark Meadows' book,...

Zoo Hippos Test Positive for COVID
Zoo Hippos Test
Positive for COVID
Dec 6, 2021 1:21 PM CST

Zoo Hippos Test Positive for COVID

Zoo says only symptom was 'expelling snot'

(Newser) - Add hippos to the list of animals that can be infected with the coronavirus. In what zookeepers believe is a world first, two hippos at a zoo in Belgium tested positive for COVID-19 after workers noticed they had runny noses, the Washington Post reports. Keepers say that apart from "...

NYC Getting One of Nation's Toughest Vaccine Mandates

De Blasio imposes rule on private sector employers

(Newser) - All private employers in New York City will have to require their workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the mayor said Monday, imposing one of the most aggressive vaccine rules in the nation. The move by Mayor Bill de Blasio comes as cases are climbing again in the US and...

Dow Having a Strong Morning as Fears Ease
Dow Rises 600 Points
on Easing Omicron Fears
MARKETS
Dec 6, 2021 10:25 AM CST

Dow Rises 600 Points on Easing Omicron Fears

Investors in a better mood about the new COVID strain

(Newser) - Fears about omicron have helped hammer the stock market of late. Now, hopes that the new COVID strain won't be so bad appears to be doing the opposite, reports the Wall Street Journal . In early trading Monday, the Dow was up about 600 points, or 1.7%, while the...

Man Accused of Selling Fake Vax Cards: 'I'm Gonna Be Rich'

Amar Shabazz of Maryland is facing charges of mail fraud, obstruction of justice

(Newser) - In April, Amar Shabazz was released from prison after time served for possession of child porn. By October, Shabazz's Maryland residence had been raided by authorities, and the 23-year-old is now facing new charges, this time for allegedly selling hundreds of fake vaccine cards, reports the New York Post...

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