COVID-19

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Pope Francis: Grandeur Isn't the Key

Larger crowd than last year's attends Midnight Mass in St. Peter's Basilica

(Newser) - Pope Francis celebrated Christmas Eve Mass before an estimated 2,000 people in St. Peter’s Basilica on Friday, going ahead with the service despite the resurgence in COVID-19 cases that has prompted a new vaccine mandate for Vatican employees. A maskless Francis processed down the central aisle as the...

White House Is Lifting Travel Curbs on 8 African Countries

Feds say restrictions bought time to better understand omicron variant

(Newser) - With omicron now by far the dominant COVID variant in the US, authorities apparently don't see much point in continuing to ban travelers from southern Africa, where the variant was first detected last month. The White House confirmed Friday that the ban on non-US citizens who had been in...

Thanks, Omicron: Hundreds of Christmas Eve Flights Canceled

United, Delta, and Alaska are canceling flights

(Newser) - Not exactly what holiday travelers want to hear the day before Christmas Eve: Three airlines announced Thursday they were canceling flights for the following day due to the omicron variant of COVID-19. United Airlines canceled more than 150 flights, saying "the nationwide spike in omicron cases this week has...

Health Care Workers Can Get Back on the Job Sooner

CDC shortens isolation period after positive COVID test

(Newser) - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed a pandemic rule for health care workers on Thursday, but it's not because COVID-19 is under control. Fearing hospital staffs will be overwhelmed by the surge in cases, the CDC will allow workers who tested positive for the disease to end...

Trump Stops Anti-Vaccine Talk During Interview

'The ones who get very sick ... are the ones that don't take the vaccine,' he tells Candace Owens

(Newser) - Donald Trump is keeping up his public comments in support of COVID vaccines , despite pushback from his own supporters. The latest example came during a back-and-forth between the former president and conservative media personality Candace Owens on a Wednesday episode of Candace from the Daily Wire. When Owens questioned why...

2nd COVID Pill Is Headed Our Way, but With Caveats

Experts think Merck's molnupiravir will take second stage to Pfizer's Paxlovid due to safety risks

(Newser) - US health regulators on Thursday authorized the second pill against COVID-19, providing another easy-to-use medication to battle the rising tide of omicron infections. The Food and Drug Administration's authorization of Merck's molnupiravir comes one day after the agency cleared a competing drug from Pfizer . That pill, Paxlovid, is...

Findings in 3 Countries: Omicron Appears Milder

Risk of hospitalization reduced compared to earlier variants, largely due to immunity

(Newser) - Three studies on populations in South Africa, Scotland, and England indicate the omicron coronavirus variant generally results in milder disease than with previous variants, and is less likely to send people to the hospital. It's reassuring news as omicron is now the dominant variant in many parts of the...

SCOTUS Is Moving 'Extraordinarily Fast' on Mandate Challenges

Special session will be held Jan. 7

(Newser) - Last week, a federal appeals court cleared the way for the Biden administration's vaccine mandate for private employers to take effect Jan. 4—but the issue will be before the Supreme Court just three days later. The court said Wednesday night that it will hold a special session Jan....

Diner Owner Who Defied Lockdown Dies of COVID

Michigan man John Parney was hospitalized for more than 2 months

(Newser) - A Michigan diner owner's long fight against COVID restrictions was followed by a long fight against the virus. John Parney, the 62-year-old owner of the Quincy Diner in Quincy, Branch County, died on Dec. 13, more than two months after he was first hospitalized, MLive reports. In December last...

China Locks Down City of 13M
China Locks Down City of 13M
Dec 22, 2021 5:06 PM CST

China Locks Down City of 13M

Xi'an is the center of a cluster of delta cases

(Newser) - With the Winter Olympics in Beijing scheduled to start in less than six weeks and the omicron variant spreading incredibly quickly in much of the world, China is pushing hard to maintain its zero COVID policy. In the northern city of Xi'an, around 13 million people are now under...

Bill Gates: 'Worst Part of the Pandemic' Could Lie Ahead

He says he's canceled Christmas plans because of the omicron variant

(Newser) - Bill Gates says he's taking the rise of the omicron variant extremely seriously and has canceled most of his holiday plans. In a series of tweets Tuesday night, the Microsoft co-founder warned that omicron is now "spreading faster than any virus in history," CNN reports. "Just...

Pfizer Asks US Officials to OK COVID Pill
FDA Approves First COVID Pill
UPDATED
Dec 22, 2021 12:47 PM CST

FDA Approves First COVID Pill

Regulators call Pfizer's Paxlovid pill a 'major step forward' in fight against pandemic

(Newser) - Update: The FDA has approved the first pill to treat COVID-19 at home—and not a moment too soon. Pfizer's Paxlovid antiviral pill was initially seen as an extra drug in the anti-COVID arsenal, but with cases surging and antibody treatments not working against the omicron variant, the pills...

Out of South Africa, a 'Tantalizing Hint' on Omicron

Case count is dropping, at least in recent days

(Newser) - A new study out of South Africa offers some positive news on the omicron variant, but with an asterisk. The study, which appeared Tuesday in the preprint medical publication MedRxiv , found that South Africans who came down with the omicron variant were 80% less likely to be hospitalized compared to...

She Only Made It 8 Months in FEMA's COVID Call Center

Irene Hild tried to help families looking for funding for loved ones' funeral expenses

(Newser) - Her job interview was made up of three questions: Did she have any call center experience? Was she bilingual? Could she start in two weeks? No, no, yes. That was good enough for Irene Hild to land a job as one of roughly 4,000 contractors hired to staff the...

Scientists Playing 'Long Game' Have Big Vaccine News

US Army researchers say they have a COVID vaccine that fights all variants, even future ones

(Newser) - With the chaotic entry of omicron onto the pandemic stage, there's concern that current vaccines may not be as effective against this variant as they were against others. Which is why news out of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research is especially noteworthy: Defense One reports that scientists...

Trump 'Surprised,' 'Very Appreciative' of Biden's Comments

Former POTUS says he appreciates current president's praise

(Newser) - Update: The former president and the current president traded unusually pleasant words Tuesday. After President Biden, in his address to the nation regarding COVID, praised "the prior administration" for its work getting vaccines available in the US so quickly, former President Trump told Fox News he was "surprised"...

Antibody Treatments Aren't Working Against Omicron

Antiviral drugs appear to still be effective

(Newser) - In yet more bad news about the omicron variant of COVID-19, hospitals have found that two of the three monoclonal antibody treatments that have been keeping serious disease at bay for many coronavirus patients do not appear to work against this variant. The one that still does is, not surprisingly,...

Health Care Workers Must Get Booster Shots in This State

California Gov. Gavin Newsom makes the announcement on Twitter

(Newser) - California health care workers will be required to have coronavirus booster shots to ensure that hospitals are ready to deal with a surge in cases as the more-transmissible omicron variant spreads throughout the state, the AP reports. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the order Tuesday on his personal Twitter account and...

Biden to Announce 500M Free COVID Tests

They're to be delivered by mail to Americans who request them: officials

(Newser) - President Biden will reportedly announce the purchase of half a billion at-home rapid COVID-19 tests, which are to be delivered for free to Americans who request them, in a nationwide speech Tuesday amid soaring cases of the omicron variant. An administration official said Americans will be able to request tests,...

Biden Spent 30 Minutes on Plane With Staffer Who Has COVID

President tests negative 3 days after possible exposure

(Newser) - President Biden is considered a close contact of a White House staffer who has tested positive for COVID-19, the administration announced Monday. "On Monday morning, a mid-level staff member, who does not regularly have contact with the president, received a positive result for a COVID-19 test," White House...

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