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CORONAVIRUS

Governors scramble to speed vaccine distribution after slow start

New York’s governor threatened to fine hospitals if they don’t use their allotment of COVID-19 vaccine fast enough. His South Carolina counterpart warned health care workers they have until Jan. 15 to get a shot or move to the back of the line. California’s governor wants to use dentists to vaccinate people. With frustration rising over the sluggish rollout of the vaccine, state leaders and other politicians around the U.S. are turning up the pressure, improvising and seeking to bend the rules to get shots in arms more quickly. Meanwhile, U.S. Health and Human Services ...

How do I know when to get my 2nd vaccine shot?

NEW YORK — As U.S. health officials try to get COVID-19 vaccines to people more quickly, it’s already time for some people to get their second shots. So who’s keeping track to make sure you get the correct second dose, and on time? And who can see that information? It’s one of the many logistical issues health officials have been sorting out to pull off the country’s largest vaccination campaign. The first COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S. require two doses taken weeks apart. Other vaccines in the pipeline might not require two ...

Once a model, California now struggles to tame COVID-19

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ambulances waited hours for openings to offload coronavirus patients. Overflow patients were moved to hospital hallways and gift shops, even a cafeteria. Refrigerated trucks were on standby, ready to store the dead. For months, California did many of the right things to avoid a catastrophic surge from the pandemic. But by the time Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Dec. 15 that 5,000 body bags were being distributed, it was clear that the nation's most populous state had entered a new phase of the COVID-19 crisis. Now infections have been racing out of control for weeks, ...

Tensions rise over masks as virus grips smaller US cities

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Arguments over mask requirements and other restrictions have turned ugly in recent days as the deadly coronavirus surge across the U.S. engulfs small and medium-size cities that once seemed safely removed from the outbreak. In Boise, Idaho, public health officials about to vote on a four-county mask mandate abruptly ended a meeting Tuesday evening because of fears for their safety amid anti-mask protests outside the building and at some of their homes. One health board member tearfully announced she had to rush home to be with her child because of the ...

County’s positive cases decreasing

NEW ULM — Positive COVID-19 cases in Brown County are decreasing after the surge seen in November. In November, Brown County Public Health was reporting an average of 39 new COVID cases each day. During the first week in December, the case counts dropped to 29 new cases a day. Public Health Director Karen Moritz said these numbers are not great, but are stabilizing from the highs seen in November. “We are encouraged by these numbers and hope people are following guidelines,” Moritz said. The reduced rate could be contributed to Gov. Tim Walz's executive order closing bars ...

US schools go back and forth on in-person learning

New York City reopened classrooms to many of its youngest students Monday in what has become a frustrating, stop-and-start process in many school systems around the U.S. because of the alarming surge in the coronavirus. The nation's largest school district, with 1 million students, had shut down in-person learning just two weeks ago but decided to bring back preschoolers and elementary school children after parents pushed for it and the mayor concluded it was safe to do so with beefed-up testing. In contrast, school systems in Detroit, Boston, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and suburban ...