Coronavirus Latest News
HealthYahoo NewsThese healthy lifestyle habits may cut risk of long COVID in half, Harvard study finds
Healthy lifestyle habits may reduce the risk of developing long COVID, according to a study published on Monday in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
NewsAssociated PressTennessee Gov. Lee proposes $100M for anti-abortion centers
Brushing aside calls to tweak one of the strictest abortion bans in the United States, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Monday unveiled plans to funnel tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to anti-abortion centers as he declared the state had a “moral obligation” to support families. Lee, a Republican, said he wants to create a $100 million grant program for nonprofits commonly known as “crisis pregnancy centers." If approved, Tennessee would become one of the top spending states on such organizations known for dissuading people from getting an abortion.
NewsYahoo News UKGP suspended after pushing vitamins and ivermectin to treat COVID
Private practitioner Dr Sarah Myhill advocated taking vitamins and other substances in high doses to cure coronavirus.
NewsAssociated Press'Died suddenly' posts twist tragedies to push vaccine lies
Results from 6-year-old Anastasia Weaver’s autopsy may take weeks. A prolific Twitter account posted Anastasia’s name and smiling dance portrait in a tweet with a syringe emoji. A Facebook user messaged her mother, Jessica Day-Weaver, to call her a “murderer” for having her child vaccinated.
NewsYahoo News 360COVID emergency ending: Too soon or long overdue?
For the past three years, the emergency declaration has given the government expanded powers to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
NewsAssociated PressEgypt officials: Hospital fire in Cairo kills 3, injures 32
A fire broke out Wednesday at a hospital in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, killing at least three people and injuring at least 32 others, health authorities said. The Health Ministry said the fire took place at the Noor Mohammadi hospital in eastern Cairo’s Matariya neighborhood. Provincial authorities said firefighters were able to put out the blaze.
NewsAssociated PressHow will life change once the COVID-19 emergency ends?
The declaration of a COVID-19 public health emergency three years ago changed the lives of millions of Americans by offering increased health care coverage, beefed-up food assistance and universal access to coronavirus vaccines and tests. Much of that is now coming to an end, with President Joe Biden's administration saying it plans to end the emergency declarations on May 11. The at-home nasal swabs, COVID-19 vaccines as well as their accompanying boosters, treatments and other products that scientists have developed over the last three years will still be authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration once the public health emergency is over.
NewsAssociated PressPresident Biden to end COVID-19 emergencies on May 11
President Joe Biden informed Congress on Monday that he will end the twin national emergencies for addressing COVID-19 on May 11, as most of the world has returned closer to normalcy nearly three years after they were first declared. The move to end the national emergency and public health emergency declarations would formally restructure the federal coronavirus response to treat the virus as an endemic threat to public health that can be managed through agencies' normal authorities. It comes as lawmakers have already ended elements of the emergencies that kept millions of Americans insured during the pandemic.
NewsAFP NewsWorld 'dangerously unprepared' for next crisis: Red Cross
All countries remain "dangerously unprepared" for the next pandemic, the Red Cross warned on Monday, saying future health crises could also collide with increasingly likely climate-related disasters."All countries remain dangerously unprepared for future outbreaks," the IFRC said, concluding that governments were no more ready now than in 2019.
NewsAssociated PressRussian embassy says North Korea lifted lockdown in capital
Russia’s embassy in North Korea says the country has eased stringent epidemic controls in capital Pyongyang that were placed during the past five days to slow the spread of respiratory illnesses. The embassy posted a notice Monday issued by North Korea’s Foreign Ministry informing foreign diplomats that the “intensified anti-epidemic period” imposed in Pyongyang since Wednesday was lifted as of Monday.
NewsAFP NewsWHO panel in talks on Covid emergency status
The World Health Organization's emergency committee on Covid-19 was meeting Friday to discuss whether the pandemic still merits the highest level of global alert.Last time the committee met in October it concluded that the pandemic still constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) -- the WHO's highest level of alert. rjm/nl/ea
HealthAssociated PressFDA's advisers back plan to simplify COVID-19 vaccinations
The U.S. is poised to make COVID-19 vaccinations more like a yearly flu shot, a major shift in strategy despite a long list of questions about how to best protect against a still rapidly mutating virus. The Food and Drug Administration asked its scientific advisers Thursday to help lay the groundwork for switching to once-a-year boosters for most Americans -- and how and when to periodically update the shots’ recipe. “This is a consequential meeting to determine if we’ve reached the point in the pandemic that allows for simplifying the use of current COVID-19 vaccines,” said FDA’s Dr. David Kaslow.
NewsAssociated PressNew lawsuits target state restrictions on abortion pills
Supporters of abortion rights filed separate lawsuits Wednesday challenging two states' abortion pill restrictions, the opening salvo in what’s expected to be a protracted legal battle over access to the medications. The lawsuits argue that limits on the drugs in North Carolina and West Virginia run afoul of the federal authority of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has approved the abortion pill as a safe and effective method for ending pregnancy. The cases were brought by a North Carolina physician who prescribes the pill, mifepristone, and GenBioPro, which makes a generic version of the drug and sued in West Virginia.
NewsAssociated PressRecord 16.3 million seek health coverage through 'Obamacare'
A record 16.3 million people sought health insurance through the Affordable Care Act this year, double the number covered when the marketplaces first launched nearly a decade ago, the Biden administration announced Wednesday. More than 3 million new members joined the marketplace, also known as “Obamacare,” according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The government worked with nonprofit groups and invested in program specialists who helped to sign people up in low-income, immigrant, Black and Latino communities to enroll more people, said Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
NewsAFP NewsVaccine misinformation spawns 'pure blood' movement
Vaccine skeptics blocking transfusions for life-saving surgeries, Facebook groups inciting violence against doctors and a global search for unvaccinated donors -- Covid-19 misinformation has bred a so-called "pure blood" movement.Taking the hysteria to the next level was the recent high-profile case of a New Zealand couple, who sought to block life-saving heart surgery of their infant on the grounds that any blood transfused could have come from a vaccinated donor.
HealthYahoo LifeCOVID vaccination rates are low in pregnant people. Experts say misinformation is partly to blame.
Experts say that pregnant people are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, which can lead to vaccine hesitancy.
NewsAssociated PressNurses ratify contracts after strike at two NYC hospitals
Nurses who went on strike at two major New York City hospitals this month have ratified the contracts that were hammered out to end the walkout, their union said Tuesday. The New York State Nurses Association said 98% of nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center voted in favor of the contracts. Montefiore said it was pleased at the ratification and believes “the historic 19% wage increase, greatly enhanced benefits and unprecedented staffing commitments" reflect the hospital's respect for its nurses.
NewsAssociated PressUS proposes once-a-year COVID shots for most Americans
U.S. health officials want to make COVID-19 vaccinations more like the annual flu shot. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday proposed a simplified approach for future vaccination efforts, allowing most adults and children to get a once-a-year shot to protect against the mutating virus. The proposal comes as boosters have become a hard sell.
ScienceYahoo News UKCOVID-19 'may cause brain haemorrhages in unborn babies'
Research based on tissues from aborted foetuses found evidence that coronavirus infection might be linked to brain haemorrhages in unborn children.
NewsAssociated Press'Here again': Abortion activists rally 50 years after Roe
From beach cities to snow-covered streets, abortion supporters rallied by the thousands on Sunday to demand protections for reproductive rights and mark the 50th anniversary of the now-overturned Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision that established federal protections for the procedure. The reversal of Roe in June unleashed a flurry of legislation in the states, dividing them between those that have restricted or banned abortion and those that have sought to defend access. The Women's March, galvanized during Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration in 2017 amid a national reckoning over sexual assaults, said it has refocused on state activism after Roe was tossed.
NewsAFP NewsChina logs nearly 13,000 Covid deaths in a week
China reported nearly 13,000 Covid-related deaths in hospitals between January 13 and 19, after a top health official said the vast majority of the population had already been infected.But a top health official said China would not experience a second wave of infections in the months after the festive migration, because nearly 80 percent of the population had already been infected by the virus.
NewsAFP NewsChina reports nearly 13,000 Covid deaths over last week
China reported nearly 13,000 Covid-related deaths in hospitals between January 13 and 19, after a top health official said the vast majority of the population has already been infected by the virus.But a top health official said China will not experience a second wave of covid infections in the next two to three months after millions return to villages to mark the Lunar New Year because nearly 80 percent of the population has already been infected by the virus.
NewsAssociated PressNavajo Nation rescinds mask mandate on vast reservation
The Navajo Nation has rescinded a mask mandate that's been in effect since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, officials announced Friday, fulfilling a pledge that new tribal President Buu Nygren made while campaigning for the office. The mandate was one of the longest-standing anywhere in the U.S. and applied broadly to businesses, government offices and tourist destinations on the vast reservation, which extends into New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. The tribe at one point had one of the highest coronavirus infection rates in the country and among the strictest measures to help prevent the spread of the virus.
NewsAssociated PressJapan to lower COVID-19 to flu status, further easing rules
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday announced plans to downgrade the legal status of COVID-19 to the equivalent of seasonal influenza in the spring, a move that would further relax mask wearing and other preventive measures as the country seeks to return to normalcy. Kishida said he has instructed experts and government officials to discuss the details on lowering COVID-19's status. A change would also remove self-isolation rules and other anti-virus requirements and allow COVID-19 patients to seek treatment at any hospital instead of only specialized facilities.
NewsAFP NewsSouth Korea to drop most indoor mask restrictions
South Korea will drop rules that require people to wear masks in most indoor spaces, authorities said Friday, ending one of the country's last major pandemic restrictions as Covid-19 cases dwindle.The mask mandate has been in place since October 2020, and is one of South Korea's last remaining pandemic-era restrictions, with other rules from business curfews to social distancing long dropped.
