Pandemics
Supreme Court extends Trump-era pandemic immigration rule to allow quicker deportations
Asylum seeking migrants from Central America sit next to a vehicle that was stopped by police after crossing the Rio Grande into Eagle Pass, Texas from Mexico along U.S. Route 90, in Hondo, Texas, U.S., June 1, 2022. Shannon Stapleton | Reuters The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday to keep in place a controversial Trump-era rule […]
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Millions at risk of losing Medicaid in the spring under provision tucked inside $1.7 trillion federal spending bill
Millions of people who enrolled in the Medicaid public health insurance program during the Covid pandemic could lose their coverage in the spring if their state determines they no longer meet the program’s eligibility requirements. Enrollment in Medicaid surged 30% to more than 83 million people during the pandemic, after Congress basically barred states from […]
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Drug overdose deaths among teenagers surged during the pandemic driven by illicit fentanyl
Drug overdose deaths among adolescents surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, driven overwhelmingly by illicit fentanyl, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Monthly drug overdose deaths nearly tripled among adolescents ages 10 to 19 during the first two years of the pandemic. Deaths rose from 31 in July 2019 to […]
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Omicron boosters are 84% efficient at holding seniors from currently being hospitalized with Covid, CDC suggests
The new COVID-19 booster which contains security for Omicron at AltaMed Well being Services in South Gate on Thursday, October 6, 2022. Sarah Reingewirtz | MediaNews Team | Los Angeles Day by day News by means of Getty Photos The most recent omicron boosters are 84% successful at keeping seniors 65 and more mature from […]
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Most nursing home residents haven’t had omicron booster ahead of expected winter Covid wave
Less than 50% of nursing home residents, one of the country’s most vulnerable populations to severe illness from Covid-19, have received an omicron booster ahead of an expected wave of infection this winter. The Biden administration has made increasing booster uptake among nursing home residents a central part of its strategy to prevent a major […]
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Growing obesity crisis in U.S. prompts CDC to expand body mass index charts for severely overweight kids
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released new body mass index charts for children in response to the growing obesity crisis in the U.S. The previous BMI chart for children ages 2 to 19, published in 2000, is based on data from 1963 to 1980, but obesity and severe obesity in children […]
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Biden administration makes at-home Covid tests available for free again this winter
Take home COVID-19 self testing kits provided by the District of Columbia government, which provides city residents four free take home tests per day, are seen in this illustration taken January 11, 2022. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters The Biden administration is making rapid Covid tests available for free again this winter through a limited round […]
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Omicron BQ, XBB subvariants are a serious threat to boosters and knock out antibody treatments, study finds
Evusheld injection, a new COVID treatment that people can take before becoming symptomatic, in Chicago on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. Chris Sweda | Tribune News Service | Getty Images The omicron subvariants that have become dominant in recent months present a serious threat to the effectiveness of the new boosters, render antibody treatments ineffective and […]
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Long Covid has contributed to more than 3,500 deaths in the U.S. since start of pandemic, CDC says
People view thousands of white flags representing Americans who have died of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) placed over 20 acres of the National Mall in Washington, U.S., September 26, 2021. Joshua Roberts | Reuters Long Covid has contributed to the deaths of more than 3,500 people since the pandemic began, according to a report published […]
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Covid and flu hospitalizations are increasing as holidays approach, while RSV is retreating in some states
Healthcare workers treat a Covid-19 patient on the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) floor at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S., on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. Allison Dinner | Bloomberg | Getty Images Covid and flu hospitalizations are increasing after the Thanksgiving holiday, while respiratory syncytial virus appears to be retreating in some states. Hospitals this […]
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