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CORONAVIRUS

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 ...

Oh, rats! As New Yorkers emerge from pandemic, so do rodents

NEW YORK (AP) — They crawled to the surface as the coronavirus pandemic roiled New York City, scurrying out of subterranean nests into the open air, feasting on a smorgasbord of scraps in streets, parks and mounds of curbside garbage. As diners shunned the indoors for outdoor dining, so did the city's rats. Now city data suggests that sightings are more frequent than they've been in a decade. Through April, people have called in some 7,400 rat sightings to the city's 311 service request line. That's up from about 6,150 during the same period last year, and up by more than 60% from ...

Ukrainian scientists see working amid war as act of defiance

Anton Vlaschenko often hears shelling outside his office in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv, not far from the front lines of the war. He sometimes even sees smoke rising from Russian tanks hit by missiles. But the 40-year-old zoologist continues his work, dissecting and labeling bat tissue, as he probes the disease ecology of the flying mammals. When news of the war overwhelms him, he says, it helps to have something familiar to do with his hands. He also sees it as an act of defiance. "Our staying in Ukraine, our continuing to work — it's some kind of resistance of ...

Nearly 1 million COVID-19 deaths: A look at the US numbers

Doug Lambrecht was among the first of the nearly 1 million Americans to die from COVID-19. His demographic profile — an older white male with chronic health problems — mirrors the faces of many who would be lost over the next two years. The 71-year-old retired physician was recovering from a fall at a nursing home near Seattle when the new coronavirus swept through in early 2020. He died March 1, an early victim in a devastating outbreak that gave a first glimpse of the price older Americans would pay. The pandemic has generated gigabytes of data that make clear which U.S. groups ...

WHO: Nearly 15 million deaths associated with COVID-19

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 15 million people were killed either by coronavirus or by its impact on overwhelmed health systems during the first two years of the pandemic, more than double the current official death toll of over 6 million. Most of the deaths occurred in Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas, according to a WHO report issued Thursday. The U.N. health agency's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described the newly calculated figure as "sobering," saying it should prompt countries to invest more in their capacities to ...

COVID-19 medication available to vulnerable groups

Medication is available for Minnesotans who test positive for COVID-19 and are at high risk of severe illness because of older age or underlying health conditions. These medications can help prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19. If you are at high risk and test positive, it is important to get medication right away to prevent serious illness. COVID-19 medications are not a substitute for prevention. It is still recommended that everyone who is eligible get vaccinated and take other steps including masking to prevent the spread of COVID-19.