Coronavirus category, Page 45
U.K. health chief: England will lift all lockdown restrictions
LONDON — All remaining lockdown restrictions in England will be lifted in a week despite a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, Britain’s health secretary said Monday, adding it’s the right time to allow Britons a chance to return to normal life. Sajid Javid told Parliament that Britain’s successful vaccine rollout...
Pennsylvania says it counted 500K duplicate covid-19 shots
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Department of Health has reduced the number of covid-19 vaccine doses that had been administered by about 500,000, saying the numbers were duplicates. The figures, released Friday evening without explanation, also showed an increase of about 60,000 in the number of people who are counted as fully...
Coronavirus infects vaccinated leader at Florida condo site
MIAMI — A vaccinated Miami-Dade county commissioner who helped other local officials in Surfside following the collapse of a condominium building announced that he and his chief of staff tested positive for covid-19. The news release late Sunday from Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz said he and his...
Pfizer to discuss vaccine booster with U.S. officials
WASHINGTON — Pfizer says it plans to meet with top U.S. health officials Monday to discuss the drugmaker’s request for federal authorization of a third dose of its covid-19 vaccine as President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser acknowledged that “it is entirely conceivable, maybe likely” that booster shots will be...
Bonus pay for essential workers varied widely across states
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — For putting their health on the line during the coronavirus pandemic, prison guards in Missouri got an extra $250 per paycheck. Teachers in Georgia received $1,000 bonuses. And in Vermont, nurses, janitors, retail workers and many others got as much as $2,000. Over the past year,...
Vaccinated teachers, students don’t need masks, CDC says
NEW YORK — Vaccinated teachers and students don’t need to wear masks inside school buildings, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday in relaxing its covid-19 guidelines. The changes come amid a national vaccination campaign in which children as young as 12 are eligible to get shots, as...
Pfizer to seek OK for 3rd covid-19 vaccine dose
Pfizer is about to seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its covid-19 vaccine, saying Thursday that another shot within 12 months could dramatically boost immunity and maybe help ward off the latest worrisome coronavirus mutant. Research from multiple countries shows the Pfizer shot and other widely used covid-19...
Proposal would keep Pittsburgh’s covid paid sick leave until 90% of Pa. is vaccinated
Pittsburgh businesses with more than 50 employees will be required to provide paid sick leave to workers who contract covid-19 or who are required to quarantine, under legislation city Councilman Bobby Wilson introduced Wednesday. The requirement would be in effect until 90% of the eligible Pennsylvania population is vaccinated. The...
Global covid-19 deaths hit 4 million amid rush to vaccinate
The global death toll from covid-19 eclipsed 4 million Wednesday as the crisis increasingly becomes a race between the vaccine and the highly contagious delta variant. The tally of lives lost over the past year and a half, as compiled from official sources by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal...
With delta variant spreading, how worried should fully vaccinated people be?
If you’re fully vaccinated, how worried should you be about the delta variant of the coronavirus? There is widespread scientific consensus that fully vaccinated people have an excellent chance of being protected from severe illness or death from any coronavirus strain, including delta. In Los Angeles County, 99.8% of people...
Pennsylvania’s covid cases remain low, despite slight uptick in positivity rates
Coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania continue to remain at low levels not seen since the very beginning of the pandemic in 2020. In the past week, according to reports from the state’s Department of Health, 1,250 new cases of the virus have been recorded. That number has not been so low...
After contact tracing data breach, Pa. sidesteps scrutiny on proposed $34M contract
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. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Health is working to hire a new company under an even pricier contract to take...
Delta’s rapid spread clouds summer with fear of covid revival
The fast-spreading delta variant is clouding Americans’ hopes for a carefree summer — and casting a shadow of doubt over plans to get back to business as usual in the fall. The shift in sentiment marks a reversal from the spring, when it looked like the U.S. immunization campaign would...
Michigan boy dies 3 days after getting Pfizer covid-19 vaccine; CDC is investigating
DETROIT — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating the case of a 13-year-old Saginaw County, Mich., boy who died in his sleep three days after getting his second dose of a covid-19 vaccine in mid-June. The county health department confirmed the investigation, telling the Free Press...
WHO warns of delta variant virus surge in Europe
GENEVA — The head of the World Health Organization’s Europe office says a 10-week drop in covid-19 cases in the region has ended, and warned that a new wave could loom unless people “remain disciplined” and more people get vaccinated. Dr. Hans Kluge on Thursday cited a 10% increase in...
‘The numbers prove it’: Allegheny County officials point to rising vaccination rates and falling case counts
Eighty percent of Allegheny County’s adult population is at least partially vaccinated against covid-19, officials said Wednesday, a rate that continues to rise as case counts and positivity rates continue to fall. “Let’s get that last 20%,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, “so we can all feel safe, we...
Pa. covid hospitalizations drop to levels not seen since early days of pandemic
Pennsylvania’s covid-19 hospitalizations dropped to a level not seen since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, there are 313 covid-19 patients currently hospitalized throughout the state. That’s the lowest total since March 27, 2020, when there were 252 people hospitalized. The state’s...
Study shows covid vaccines provide immunity for monthsVideo
ST. LOUIS — Washington University researchers on Monday released a study further suggesting that the Pfizer and Moderna covid-19 vaccines offer monthslong protection from the virus. No one had yet studied whether the vaccines create persistent responses in key parts of the lymph nodes, the researchers said. Their data was...
2 coronavirus cases reported at Westmoreland prison
Two Westmoreland County Prison inmates have active coronavirus infections but the facility’s warden on Monday said there is no sign of an additional outbreak at the Hempfield lockup. One inmate developed an infection while in quarantine and another tested positive after he was placed in a general population unit, said...
Pitt enrolling participants for covid-19 booster shot trial
The University of Pittsburgh is enrolling participants for a trial of booster shots that mix vaccines against covid-19. The goal is to see, for example, if a dose of Pfizer after a round of Moderna gives people stronger and broader protection. Pitt’s Pittsburgh Vaccine Trials Unit (PVTU) is one of...
Puerto Rico to receive nearly $4B in U.S. pandemic funds
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Monday that Puerto Rico will receive nearly $4 billion in federal education pandemic relief funds to help boost the U.S. territory’s fight against covid-19. The announcement was made during Cardona’s official three-day trip to Puerto Rico, the first for...
As variant rises, vaccine plan targets ‘movable middle’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thrown off-stride to reach its covid-19 vaccination goal, the Biden administration is sending A-list officials across the country, devising ads for niche markets and enlisting community organizers to persuade unvaccinated people to get a shot. The strategy has the trappings of a political campaign, complete with data...
All aboard! 1st post-pandemic cruise ship readies to sail
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The first cruise ship to leave a U.S. port since the coronavirus pandemic brought the industry to a 15-month standstill is preparing to set sail with nearly all vaccinated passengers on board. Celebrity Edge will depart Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at 6 p.m. Saturday with the number...
Pennsylvania mask mandate ends Monday
Pennsylvanians can go maskless starting next week unless it is required by the business or building they’re in. The state mask mandate will expire at 12:01 a.m. Monday as promised, Department of Health officials said Friday. “We are continuing to make progress toward stopping the spread of covid-19 throughout the...
Nearly all covid deaths in U.S. are now among unvaccinated
Nearly all covid-19 deaths in the U.S. now are in people who weren’t vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been and an indication that deaths per day — now down to under 300 — could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine. An Associated...
