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CORONAVIRUS

Pfizer says 3 COVID shots protect children under 5

Three doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine offer strong protection for children younger than 5, the company announced Monday, another step toward shots for the littlest kids possibly beginning in early summer. Pfizer plans to submit the findings to U.S. regulators later this week. The Food and Drug Administration already is evaluating an application by rival Moderna to offer two-dose vaccinations to tots — and set June 15 as a tentative date for its independent scientific advisers to publicly debate the data from one or both companies. The news comes after months of anxious waiting ...

It’s not over

NEW ULM — A recent surge in lab-confirmed positive COVID-19 cases has increased the Brown County COVID-19 community level from low to medium Friday, according to a Brown County Public Health press release. “It’s really easy for all of us to hope COVID-19 is not spreading, but that is ...

Fauci urges college grads to stand against disinformation

BRISTOL, R.I. (AP) — Dr. Anthony Fauci urged graduates of Roger Williams University on Friday to fight what he called the "normalization of untruths," which has become a growing and more troubling problem during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and the face of the federal government's response to the coronavirus, was the commencement ceremony's keynote speaker but addressed students at the private Rhode Island college remotely because he had to attend a memorial service for a family member. "During the COVID-19 pandemic, I have experienced ...

Depression, pandemic photographs paired in Ohio exhibit

LANCASTER, Ohio (AP) — An exhibit in Ohio pairing photographs from two moments of societal crisis — the Great Depression and the COVID-19 pandemic — aims to help visitors see parallels between the human tolls felt across generations. The show, "Chronicles: The Great Depression and the Pandemic," opens Saturday at the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio and runs through Aug. 28. It couples images of day-to-day life gathered by 10 Depression-era photographers and five contemporary Ohio photographers. The 1930s photographers — including Dorothea Lange, Esther Bubley, Jack Delano, ...

A third of US should be considering masks, officials say

WASHINGTON (AP) — COVID-19 cases are increasing in the United States — and could get even worse over the coming months, federal health officials warned Wednesday in urging areas hardest hit to consider reissuing calls for indoor masking. Increasing numbers of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are putting more of the country under guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that call for masking and other infection precautions. Right now, about a third of the U.S. population lives in areas that are considered at higher risk — mostly in the ...

Eric Clapton COVID-positive, cancels shows

Eric Clapton, a critic of coronavirus vaccines and pandemic restrictions, has tested positive for COVID-19 and canceled two upcoming European gigs. Clapton's upcoming shows in Zurich on Tuesday and Milan on Wednesday will be rescheduled, he announced on his Facebook page and official online site. The 77-year-old rocker tested positive following his concert at London's Royal Albert Hall on May 8. "Eric is also anxious to avoid passing on any infection to any of his band, crew, promoters, their staff and of course, the fans," the statement reads. He hopes to be able to resume the tour ...