Coronavirus category, Page 43

After starting July with low numbers, covid cases and hospitalizations have crept up this past week in Pennsylvania and Allegheny County. In Westmoreland County, there’s a different story as those numbers have not changed much at all. Cases As of Wednesday’s covid report, the Pennsylvania Department of Health has seen...

Covid-19 cases in Allegheny County remain below the threshold that would trigger the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated mask guidance, but county leaders did not rule out the need for a countywide mask mandate. “We’re not there yet but, again, stay tuned,” said County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, noting...

As expected, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now recommending that even vaccinated people wear masks indoors in parts of the U.S. where coronavirus cases are surging. The CDC made the announcement Tuesday, adding vaccinated people with vulnerable household members, including young children and those who are immunocompromised,...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed course Tuesday on some masking guidelines, recommending that even vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in parts of the U.S. where the delta variant of the coronavirus is fueling infection surges. Citing new information about the variant’s ability to spread among...

TOKYO — Japan’s capital, Tokyo, reported its highest number of new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, days after the Olympics began. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga urged people to avoid non-essential outings but said there was no need to consider a suspension of the Games. Tokyo reported 2,848 new covid-19 cases, exceeding...

Moderna Inc. said it would expand an ongoing trial of its coronavirus vaccine in children under 12 years old to gather more safety data amid worries that messenger RNA shots may trigger rare heart side effects. “The objective is to enroll a larger safety database which increases the likelihood of...

NEW YORK — New York City will require all of its municipal workers — including teachers and police officers — to get coronavirus vaccines by mid-September or face weekly covid-19 testing, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday. The rule is expected to affect about 340,000 city employees, making the city...

OMAHA, Neb. — Several states scaled back their reporting of covid-19 statistics this month just as cases across the country started to skyrocket, depriving the public of real-time information on outbreaks, cases, hospitalizations and deaths in their communities. The shift to weekly instead of daily reporting in Nebraska, Iowa and...

CORUNNA, Mich. — Elected officials in a conservative Michigan county who gave themselves bonuses of $65,000 with federal covid-19 relief aid said they will return the money following days of criticism. Shiawassee County commissioners acted after the prosecutor said the payments were illegal, The Argus-Press reported. The Michigan Constitution bars...

WILMINGTON, Del. — The United States is in an “unnecessary predicament” of soaring covid-19 cases fueled by unvaccinated Americans and the virulent delta variant, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert said Sunday. “We’re going in the wrong direction,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, describing himself as “very frustrated.” He said recommending...

PARIS — Some 160,000 people, including far-right activists and members of France’s yellow vest movement, protested Saturday across the country against a bill requiring everyone to have a special virus pass to enter restaurants and mandating covid-19 vaccinations for all health care workers. Similar protests were held in neighboring Italy....

A growing number of public-health experts are urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend that even fully vaccinated people wear face masks in public amid the resurgence of virus cases fed by the delta variant. Doctors including former surgeon general Jerome Adams say the CDC acted prematurely...

The excuses range from the merely false to the absurd. The shots don’t work. They impair fertility. They’ll alter your DNA. They’ll magnetize you. They actually spread the virus. Unvaccinated Americans cite a litany of myths to explain their hesitance to get shots, confounding local health officials battling yet another...

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. Wolf administration officials doubled down this week on pursuing more than $100 million in new pandemic-related emergency contracts as they faced...

Westmoreland County’s largest hospital system and employer is contemplating requiring health care workers to get vaccinated for covid-19 as concerns mount over the delta variant spreading rapidly among the unvaccinated. Excela Health, which employs about 4,300 across three hospitals and more than a dozen outpatient, testing and therapy providers, does...

Indonesia has converted nearly its entire oxygen production to medical use just to meet the demand from covid-19 patients struggling to breathe. Overflowing hospitals in Malaysia had to resort to treating patients on the floor. And in Myanmar’s largest city, graveyard workers have been laboring day and night to keep...