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CORONAVIRUS

FDA clears COVID booster shot for healthy kids ages 5 to 11

U.S. regulators on Tuesday authorized a COVID-19 booster shot for healthy 5- to 11-year-olds, hoping an extra vaccine dose will enhance their protection as infections once again creep upward. Everyone 12 and older already was supposed to get one booster dose for the best protection against the newest coronavirus variants -- and some people, including those 50 and older, can choose a second booster. The Food and Drug Administration's authorization now opens a third shot of Pfizer's vaccine to elementary-age kids, too — at least five months after their last dose. There is one more ...

2 more bills targeting COVID rules head to Ariz. governor’s desk

PHOENIX (AP) — Two more bills restricting responses to the coronavirus pandemic are heading to Republican Gov. Doug Ducey's desk, including one that would impact the ability of future state leaders to respond to another airborne-spreading disease and a second blocking the state from ever requiring schoolchildren to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Tuesday's state Senate votes were the latest moves by GOP lawmakers to limit what they have called government overreach. The Republican-controlled Senate approved a bill that would ban any state or local government agency from requiring facemasks ...

Calif. school district reinstates indoor masking

PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. (AP) — A small California school district began requiring indoor masking again Tuesday due to rising cases of COVID-19. Pacific Grove Unified School District at the south end of Monterey Bay announced the requirement Monday after the Monterey County Health Department reported a seven-day average test positivity rate of 5.2% and a seven-day average of 12.4 cases per 100,000 residents. Last month, the district's board set thresholds for indoor masking when the test positivity rate exceeded 5% and the case rate surpassed 10 per 100,000 residents. The district ...

Boulder County rises to ‘medium’ COVID-19 level

DENVER (AP) — Boulder County is urging residents to take additional safety measures because of a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. In an announcement Friday, the county's public health department said the number of new cases per 100,000 people had exceeded 200 in the last week, shifting the county from a "low" community COVID-19 level to "medium", under federal guidelines. It suggested that people get tested before visiting people who are at high risk for severe disease and get fully vaccinated, including getting booster shots, among other measures. The city of Boulder said it ...

Sleepy Eye School holds off solar purchase; school officials report COVID creeping back

SLEEPY EYE — Seeking contract clarification, the Sleepy Eye School Board tabled a solar array purchase, facility lease and power purchase agreements Wednesday. Action came at the request of Sleepy Eye Superintendent John Cselovszki, who said after reading a story in The Journal about the grant-funded solar system purchase, he met with Sleepy Eye City Manager Bob Elston and Sleepy Eye Utility Superintendent Mike Hardin about the agreements. "After looking at it with them, they felt that some things didn't look quite right so we'll get more clarification on it," said Cselovszki. "We ...

Creeping COVID-19 cases result in few schools mask mandates

By Steve LeBlanc and Mike Catalini Associated Press CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — U.S. COVID-19 cases are up, leading a smattering of school districts, particularly in the Northeast, to bring back mask mandates and recommendations for the first time since the omicron winter surge ended and as the country approaches 1 million deaths in the pandemic. The return of masking in schools is not nearly as widespread as earlier in the pandemic, particularly as the public’s worries over the virus have ebbed. But districts in Maine, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have brought masks back, with a few ...