Dec 29 WATCH: White House COVID task force holds news briefing By Associated Press The briefing is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET. Continue reading
Dec 29 Global COVID cases up 11 percent last week and omicron risk is high, says WHO By Associated Press The World Health Organization says the number of COVID-19 cases recorded worldwide increased by 11% last week compared with the previous week, with the biggest increase in the Americas. Continue reading
Dec 27 Watch 9:27 Why the CDC reduced COVID quarantine time despite omicron’s spread By Stephanie Sy, Dorothy Hastings The omicron variant of the coronavirus has upended plans to put the pandemic behind us. Instead, average daily U.S. COVID infections are up 80 percent in two weeks. Hospitals are hunkering down, and the White House is scrambling to respond. Continue watching
Dec 27 Australia’s most populous state reports first omicron death By Associated Press Australia’s New South Wales state has reported more than 6,000 new COVID-19 cases and confirmed its first death from the omicron variant. Continue reading
Dec 24 Watch 3:04 COVID-19 spreads holiday misery, as canceled flights strand thousands on Christmas Eve By Stephanie Sy, Dorothy Hastings The COVID-19 pandemic is once again upending holiday plans around the world, from halting air travel to scaling back festive celebrations. All this as new infections in the U.S. have spiked 55 percent in the last two weeks alone, largely… Continue watching
Dec 23 Watch 9:42 Americans face COVID testing lags ahead of holidays: ‘We’re very, very far behind’ By Stephanie Sy, Dorothy Hastings The new coronavirus variant is driving a surge of COVID-19 cases in the United States. Omicron is now present in all 50 states - just three weeks after it was first detected in the U.S. It has raised questions and… Continue watching
Dec 19 Omicron may sideline two leading drugs against COVID-19 By Matthew Perrone, Associated Press As strained U.S. hospitals brace for a new surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the fast-spreading omicron variant, doctors are warning of yet another challenge: the two standard drugs they’ve used to fight infections are unlikely to work against the… Continue reading
Dec 16 Watch 9:20 As the holiday season nears, concerns of a resurgent virus are growing By William Brangham, Amber Partida From Broadway to Britain, COVID-19 is spreading new fears, forcing new shutdowns and prompting people to wonder when it will all end. And experts warn omicron is likely to become the dominant strain in the U.S. William Brangham reports on… Continue watching
Dec 16 How effective are COVID-19 vaccines against omicron? By Melissa Hawkins, The Conversation For a number of reasons, vaccines become less effective as time goes on. So how do researchers calculate how well they are working?… Continue reading
Dec 15 Watch 5:08 What we know about the severity of omicron and possibility of ‘triple whammy’ this winter By John Yang, Courtney Norris 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… Continue watching