Health Jan 14 Health systems buckle under latest surge of COVID hospitalizations President Biden on Friday announced free tests to help combat the rapidly spreading omicron variant. But the surge is battering hospitals and stretching some to capacity, with COVID hospitalizations jumping 179 percent in the past two weeks. William Brangham reports,…
Health Jan 10 How the latest CDC guidance on COVID-19 is creating unnecessary confusion The latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on isolation and testing for COVID-19 has received intense pushback. Many health experts are now criticizing what the CDC has said and how its officials have said it. This…
Nation Jan 05 How disinformation around Jan. 6 riot has downplayed violence, divided Americans The attack on the U.S. Capitol was based on a “Big Lie” about election fraud in 2020, and the hope of supporters of former President Donald Trump that they could stop the certification of electoral vote results. But in the…
Nation Dec 24 Why a judge rejected a settlement with the Sackler family for their role in opioid crisis Experts link a record number of overdoses this year from black market opioids back to the original marketing and distribution of legal opioids made by Purdue Pharma, the company owned by the Sackler family that made OxyContin. Last week, a…
Nation Dec 23 How the guilty verdict in the Kim Potter trial could influence police reform A jury convicted former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter Thursday on two counts of manslaughter after 27 hours of deliberations. Potter shot Daunte Wright, 20, after reaching for her taser but drawing her gun. The April incident began as a…
Nation Dec 20 What we've learned from the Ghislaine Maxwell trial Closing arguments were made Monday in the federal sex-trafficking and conspiracy trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of disgraced financier Jeffery Epstein. Maxwell faces six counts for allegedly aiding and abetting Epstein’s abuse of underage teens. She is accused…
Health Dec 15 What we know about the severity of omicron and possibility of 'triple whammy' this winter As the omicron variant is spreading rapidly, top federal health officials warn it could bring a massive wave of new infections to the United States as early as January. There are now confirmed cases of omicron in at least 36…
Health Dec 13 Older Americans make up a majority of COVID deaths. They are falling behind on boosters The United States is approaching a grim milestone of the pandemic, as the nationwide death toll approaches 800,000. The vast majority of those deaths are among the elderly — people 65 and up make up 75 percent of all COVID-19…
Nation Dec 07 Navy's water contamination flub in Hawaii follows 8 years of warning signs U.S. military families stationed in Hawaii are dealing with tap water contaminated with petroleum. The cause is unknown, but investigators say a leak from a nearby fuel storage facility operated by the Navy may be to blame. On Monday, Secretary…
Health Dec 06 Could omicron lead to more breakthrough COVID cases? Here's what we know For the first time in nearly two months, the United States is averaging more than 100,000 new coronavirus cases daily. Roughly one-third of states have also now detected the new omicron variant. John Yang reports.