National News - Page 70

Biden and Harris to deliver remarks on January 6 anniversary

By Paul LeBlanc and Allie Malloy, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver remarks on Thursday to mark the one-year anniversary of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, the White House said Sunday. Their remarks will come alongside a slate of events prepared by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to commemorate the insurrection, including a moment of silence on the House floor and a prayer vigil on the steps of the Capitol. The White House had said last month that it would mark the anniversary, but did not provide further details. “January 6 was one of the darkest days in

CDC director explains new Covid-19 guidance as the US heads into a harrowing phase of the pandemic

By Holly Yan and Aya Elamroussi, Sweeping new Covid-19 isolation and quarantine guidelines were spurred by scientific research and what Americans would likely tolerate, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. They come as doctors expect the holiday coronavirus surge, driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant, to get worse following New Year’s Eve. The average number of daily US Covid-19 cases on Tuesday reached 265,427 — a new pandemic high, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. In guidance issued this week, the CDC said: • Anyone who tests positive for Covid-19, regardless of vaccination status, can stop isolating after five

Studies indicate J&J Covid-19 vaccine booster protects people against severe illness from Omicron variant

By Maggie Fox, Two reports released Thursday show that people who get booster doses of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine are well protected against severe disease and hospitalization from the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the company said. Researchers said the findings indicate that most of the Covid-19 vaccines will protect people against the worst outcomes from infection — and show some of the emphasis on how the various vaccines affect immune system components called antibodies may be misleading. One real-life study from South Africa showed vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization from Covid-19 rose to 85% after a booster dose of the J&J vaccine,

Biden administration signals pandemic strategy shift in the face of Omicron

By Stephen Collinson, America is plunging into a fast-worsening and frightening winter bout with Covid-19 that will leave few citizens and communities untouched. But as the highly transmissible Omicron variant roars across the country, the Biden administration is revealing the most tangible signs of a shifting pandemic strategy several weeks in the making. It is preparing a nation exhausted by two years of battling the invisible enemy to live more feasibly alongside it. The new strain of a virus that had already killed more than 800,000 Americans is forcing quick government course alterations. President Joe Biden’s White House faces a dilemma rooted in increasing evidence that Omicron causes more mild

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Resolutions for making 2022 a better, healthier year

By Dr. Sanjay Gupta, It’s almost the new year and along with it comes the admittedly aspirational tradition of setting New Year’s resolutions — ones that we hopefully can stick to and not abandon after Week 3, or even Day 3, of 2022. At the same time, we’re sliding into our third year of battling a novel coronavirus that continues to keep the world in pandemic mode. That’s why it is more important now than ever — as the Delta variant gets squeezed out by Omicron in this country and around the globe, and as Covid-19 haltingly evolves from pandemic to

Cities that are canceling their big New Year’s Eve events — and those still going forward

By Forrest Brown, For awhile there, it appeared we might be able to ring in New Year’s Eve in major cities across the planet with something resembling the huge celebrations of yore. Another Covid-19 surge and the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus have dashed those hopes — at least in some part of the world. In New York City, the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square will be “scaled back,” with fewer revelers and everyone required to wear a mask, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office said last week. But some major cities in Europe, where the

CDC shortens recommended Covid-19 isolation and quarantine time

By Maggie Fox, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday shortened the recommended times that people should isolate when they’ve tested positive for Covid-19 from 10 days to five days if they don’t have symptoms — and if they wear a mask around others for at least five more days. The CDC also shortened the recommended time for people to quarantine if they are exposed to the virus to a similar five days if they are vaccinated. People who are fully vaccinated and boosted may not need to quarantine at all, the CDC said. “Given what we currently know about COVID-19 and the

The Supreme Court has upheld state and local vaccine mandates. That may not save Biden’s.

By Tierney Sneed, A Supreme Court that has declined to block several types of vaccine mandates is now considering whether to allow the Biden administration to require millions of Americans to get Covid-19 vaccines. While the court has been tolerant so far of vaccine mandates that have come before it — refusing to halt requirements imposed by local and state entities — those implemented by the federal government pose new legal questions that could draw hostility from the conservative majority. How the 6-3 Supreme Court resolves those cases could have implications for the executive branch’s power to act unilaterally not just on

The US just hit a record average of daily new Covid-19 cases

By Holly Yan and Amir Vera, The US hit a seven-day average of 265,427 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, blowing past the country’s previous record of about 252,000 daily cases, reported nearly a year ago on January 11. The new peak, according to Johns Hopkins University data, comes amid a rapid acceleration of infections in the United States — and across the world — since last month. And experts predict the Omicron variant — the most contagious strain of coronavirus yet — is going to make the start of 2022 very difficult. “January is going to be a really, really hard month.

Biden grapples with a Covid-19 testing failure that could have been foreseen

By Stephen Collinson, President Joe Biden and his team repeatedly promised more Covid-19 testing, including at-home kits that deliver rapid results, but they are now admitting a virus that is more adaptable than the politicians who fight it has outpaced them again. For many Americans, this holiday season may be remembered for hours spent in long testing lines, or fruitlessly searching pharmacy shelves for antigen tests as the Omicron variant took over the previous Delta wave. Already patchy testing has been exposed by the latest highly transmissible variant, and the US is being compared unfavorably to other developed nations where citizens have easy access to rapid tests for

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