coronavirus

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In Case of Surgeon With Omicron, Cause for Optimism

So far, just one of his many contacts has also tested positive

(Newser) - Dr. Elad Maor returned to Israel from a cardiology conference in London last week, thrice testing negative for COVID-19 before leaving the UK and after arriving back home. So he worked as usual, attending a hospital staff meeting, seeing patients, attending another cardiology conference, eating with colleagues, visiting with relatives,...

White House 'Pulling Out the Stops' With New COVID Plan

Strategy includes focus on at-home testing, booster shots

(Newser) - President Biden is set to roll out his administration's winter COVID strategy Thursday—and he says the nation will fight the virus "not with shutdowns or lockdowns but with more widespread vaccinations, boosters, testing, and more." The White House says the new strategy, which Biden will unveil...

Japan Does a 180 on Controversial Omicron Policy

And more on what omicron means around the globe

(Newser) - Update: Just one day after announcing a recommendation that quickly became quite controversial, Japan is changing its tune. The country's transport ministry on Thursday said it was retracting its request that airlines stop taking reservations for people coming in to Japan until the new year, the AP reports. Our ...

Fauci: First Omicron Case Has Been Detected in US

Fauci says person in California returned from South Africa trip on Nov. 22

(Newser) - A person in California is the first in the US to have an identified case of the COVID-19 omicron variant, the White House announced Wednesday as scientists continue to study the risks posed by the new strain of the virus. "This is the first case of COVID-19 caused by...

Shuttered in March 2020, Fiji Celebrates a 'Momentous Day'

Fiji is once again open to tourists, for first time in nearly 2 years

(Newser) - Since March 2020, the island nation of Fiji has had its doors shuttered to tourists, in an attempt to keep COVID from overwhelming the limited medical services available to its 1 million residents. On Wednesday, nearly two years after the tourism-dependent country's shutdown, locals once again started to welcome...

Omicron Was in Europe Before South Africa Raised the Alarm

First cases reported in Brazil, Japan

(Newser) - Brazil and Japan joined the rapidly widening circle of countries to report cases of the omicron variant Tuesday, while new findings indicate the mutant coronavirus was already in Europe close to a week before South Africa sounded the alarm. The Netherlands' RIVM health institute disclosed that patient samples dating from...

BioNTech Founder: Omicron Unlikely to Cause Severe Cases

Ugur Sahin says vaccinated people should have protection against new variant

(Newser) - The seesawing of sentiment on the omicron variant continues. The co-founder of BioNTech, the company that partnered with Pfizer on a COVID vaccine, has weighed in with comments that are relatively optimistic. Ugur Sahin tells the Wall Street Journal that the company's existing vaccine should prevent serious illness among...

CDC Strengthens Booster Advice
CDC Strengthens
Booster Advice
Nov 29, 2021 6:07 PM CST

CDC Strengthens Booster Advice

Agency now says everyone over 18 who is eligible should get another shot

(Newser) - While much is unknown about the new omicron COVID variant—including how effective existing vaccines are against it—the CDC is urging people not to take any chances. The agency strengthened its advice Monday to say that people over 18 should get a booster shot, New York Times reports. Earlier...

Couple Arrested After Leaving Quarantine Hotel

They tested positive after arriving in Amsterdam from South Africa Friday

(Newser) - Dutch military police arrested a husband and wife Sunday who had left a hotel where they were being quarantined after testing positive for COVID-19 and boarded a plane to fly home to Spain. A spokeswoman for the local security authority that covers Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport said Monday that an...

South Africa President: Omicron Travel Bans Are Discriminatory

Cyril Ramaphosa says they won't stop the spread, must be lifted now

(Newser) - Travel bans are increasingly being put into place against South Africa amid fears related to the COVID-19 variant newly identified there, and the president of the country is not happy. The bans, which have been implemented in places including the US, Canada, UK, Israel, EU, and Japan, are not backed...

Netherlands Extends Lockdowns
Netherlands
Starts 12-Hour
Lockdowns
Nov 28, 2021 12:50 PM CST

Netherlands Starts 12-Hour Lockdowns

Restrictions were extended before latest variant was discovered

(Newser) - The Netherlands moved into a tougher lockdown Sunday that was announced even before the country recorded its first confirmed cases of the new omicron virus variant. Bars, restaurants, nonessential stores, cinemas, and theaters are among the public places now forced to shut from 5pm until 5am, the AP reports. Wilko...

Outbreak Shuts Team Down
Outbreak Shuts Team Down
Nov 27, 2021 2:55 PM CST

Outbreak Shuts Team Down

NHL postpones 2 Islanders games to fight spread

(Newser) - The NHL has postponed two more games for coronavirus-related reasons, making it five so far this season. Upcoming New York Islanders games Sunday at the Rangers and Tuesday at the Philadelphia Flyers were postponed after additional players went into the NHL's COVID-19 protocol on Saturday. The Islanders would have...

2 Planes Flew in From South Africa. 61 People Had COVID

Dutch authorities are now testing passengers to see if they have worrisome omicron variant

(Newser) - Two flights arrived in the Netherlands on Friday, bearing some 600 passengers from South Africa, and also a good number of COVID cases—and those people are now being tested to see if they've got the newly emerging omicron variant . Reuters reports that 61 of the flights' passengers who...

First Case of New Variant Detected in Europe
WHO Names Variant;
US Issues Travel Restrictions
the rundown
Nov 26, 2021 1:32 PM CST

WHO Names Variant; US Issues Travel Restrictions

World Health Organization dubs it 'omicron' and calls it a 'variant of concern'

(Newser) - The world got an unwanted new arrival on Friday: omicron. Here's the latest on the worrisome new COVID variant:
  • New name: After an emergency review, the World Health Organization on Friday declared the emerging strain of COVID a "variant of concern," reports the Washington Post . The variant,
...

New COVID Variant Is a &#39;Big Jump in Evolution&#39;
New COVID Variant Is
a 'Big Jump in Evolution'
THE RUNDOWN
Nov 26, 2021 6:53 AM CST

New COVID Variant Is a 'Big Jump in Evolution'

EU countries rush to restrict travel from southern Africa

(Newser) - Almost two years after the first cases were detected in Wuhan, China, the fight against the coronavirus continues—and authorities are worried that a new variant detected in South Africa could be a major setback. The variant, currently known as B.1.1.529, has mutations that could make it...

Germany Passes 100K COVID Deaths
Germany Passes
100K COVID Deaths
Nov 25, 2021 5:21 AM CST

Germany Passes 100K COVID Deaths

Leader-in-waiting hasn't ruled out mandatory vaccinations

(Newser) - Official figures released Thursday show Germany has become the latest country to surpass 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Germany’s disease control agency said it recorded 351 additional deaths in connection with the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, taking the total toll to 100,119....

Another EU Country Is Entering Lockdown

'We’re losing the battle against COVID,' Slovakia's president says

(Newser) - Slovakia's government on Wednesday approved a two-week national lockdown amid a record surge of coronavirus infections. Prime Minister Eduard Heger said the measures that take effect Thursday will target all—both unvaccinated and vaccinated, the AP reports. Under the lockdown, people can leave their homes only for some specific...

After 30 Years on General Hospital, He's Out Due to Vaccine Mandate

Steve Burton refused to get COVID-19 vaccine

(Newser) - Steve Burton has been playing Jason Morgan on General Hospital since 1991. But no longer: The actor has been fired from the ABC soap opera for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, Variety reports. Burton made the announcement himself on Instagram in a video including anti-vaccine rhetoric, and the show...

Island Shuts Schools Amid 'Very Explosive' COVID Riots

French territory of Guadeloupe trashed during days of protests turned violent

(Newser) - Schools closed across the French Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe on Monday, and France's president warned of a "very explosive" situation in the island territory, after protests against COVID-19 rules and vaccinations descended into days of rioting and looting. France's central government sent in police special forces to...

Breakthrough COVID Was Mild, and Worse Than I Thought

Alexis Madrigal writes that the 'life disruption' very real even if you don't get very sick

(Newser) - Alexis Madrigal is a co-founder of the COVID Tracking Project, so as you can imagine, he took COVID pretty darn seriously. Which made his friend's October wedding in New Orleans a major dilemma. His best friend (a doctor) was getting married, Madrigal was a vaccinated 39-year-old endurance athlete, the...

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