Aug 27 Judge blocks Florida governor's order banning mask mandates By Terry Spencer, Curt Anderson, Associated Press Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper on Friday agreed with a group of parents who claimed in a lawsuit that Gov. Ron DeSantis' ban on the mandates is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced. Continue reading
Aug 27 Arizona becomes 13th state to pass 1 million COVID-19 cases By Terry Tang, Jonathan J. Cooper, Associated Press "I don't think the human brain can process it," a longtime nurse said of Arizona hitting 1 millions cases and 18,600 deaths. "I don't think when you are an individual that you can fathom that number. It's incomprehensible."… Continue reading
Aug 26 100,000 more COVID deaths expected unless U.S. changes its ways By Carla K. Johnson, Nicky Forster, Associated Press But health experts say that toll could be cut in half if nearly everyone wore a mask in public spaces. Experts agree: What the coronavirus has in store this fall depends on human behavior. Continue reading
Aug 26 Virus surge breaks hospital records amid rising toll on kids By Sudhin Thanawala, Jay Reeves, Associated Press Kentucky and Texas have joined a growing list of states that have surpassed their record for hospitalized coronavirus patients. The two states on Wednesday reported the most COVID-19 patients in their hospitals since the pandemic began. Continue reading
Aug 22 Watch 5:46 COVID-19 boosters shots 'a tough balance' for FDA, epidemiologists By PBS NewsHour The Biden Administration announced last week that COVID-19 booster shots will be available by mid-September for those eight months into being fully-vaccinated. But with many Americans still unvaccinated and vaccine access worldwide varying wildly, are booster shots premature? Stat reporter… Continue watching
Aug 21 Watch 6:57 COVID-19 surge: Why we need more data on breakthrough infections By PBS NewsHour In May, the CDC made a decision to reduce tracking and collecting data on breakthrough infections to only those involving hospitalizations and deaths -- leaving a big gap in understanding the impact of variants as COVID-19 cases surge across the… Continue watching
Aug 15 U.S. mulls COVID vaccine boosters for elderly as early as fall By Hope Yen, Associated Press Federal health officials have been actively looking at whether extra shots for the vaccinated may be needed as early as this fall, reviewing case numbers in the U.S. “almost daily” as well as the situation in other countries such as… Continue reading
Aug 11 Tensions over school mask mandates roil this Mississippi town By Laura Santhanam The simple back-to-school precaution of masking has become a source of controversy in Mississippi and around the country as millions of students prepare to enter the academic year and rates of COVID-19 infection soar. Continue reading
Aug 10 Watch 6:44 As millions of students return to the classroom, parents remain divided on mask mandates As U.S. schools begin opening for another year of learning, the controversy over whether students should be required to wear masks is anything but settled in many states. While hospitalization and death from COVID-19 is uncommon in children, cases have… Continue watching
Aug 10 Hospitals run low on nurses as they get swamped with COVID-19 By Terry Spencer, Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, Andrew Selsky, Associated Press The surge in COVID-19 infections across the U.S. has caused a shortage of nurses and other front-line staff in virus hot spots that can no longer keep up with the flood of unvaccinated patients. Continue reading