More than 500,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to data from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University. 

A Utah intensive care unit nurse was released from Gainesville, Fla.-based UF Health Shands Hospital after a severe COVID-19 infection left her needing a double lung transplant, CBS4 Miami reported Feb. 22. 

All states have reported minimal flu activity for the third week in a row, according to the CDC's FluView report for the week ending Feb. 13.

California will set aside 10 percent of first COVID-19 vaccine doses for educators, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a Feb. 19 news conference. 

While healthcare workers received priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine, large inequalities exist among those being vaccinated, according to a new survey from the COVID States Project.

Pandemic-induced stress and post-infection inflammation can cause temporary hair loss, The New York Times reported Feb. 18. 

COVID-19 case counts have decreased for five consecutive weeks, according to the CDC's COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review published Feb. 19.  

A woman with chronic obstructive lung disease contracted COVID-19 from a pair of donor lungs and died 61 days after the transplant — the first confirmed donor-to-recipient transmission of COVID-19 in the U.S., according to a case report published Feb. 10 in the American Journal of Transplantation. 

Daily COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. have been declining for 40 days, or since Jan. 14, reports The COVID Tracking Project.  

How many healthcare workers have actually received vaccines since the vaccine rollout began in December?

Here are the rates of positive COVID-19 tests in each state, along with the number of new cases most recently reported and number of tests conducted per 100,000 people.

Jacksonville, Fla.-based Baptist Health and Jacksonville University have launched a second-degree, 12-month BSN nursing program expected to start this fall. 

Headache, fatigue and dizziness were the most commonly reported side effects after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CDC's Feb. 19 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 

The use of radiological imaging, such as CT scans and MRIs, may uncover the reasons behind prolonged musculoskeletal symptoms some COVID-19 patients experience, according to a research paper published Feb. 17 in Skeletal Radiology.

New York's health department will recommend reopening visitation for nursing homes and issue new guidance in accordance with CMS and the CDC, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Feb. 29, according to radio station WCBS.

Few nurses or endoscopy technicians undergo formal training on infection control and reprocessing before joining endoscopy units, according to a study published in the American Journal of Infection Control.

The Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program and the Accreditation Commission for Health Care merged in October last year. ACHC President and CEO José Domingos discussed the lead-up to the merger and the benefits it brings to HFAP programs in a Feb. 17 interview with Specialty Pharmacy Continuum.

More than 90 percent of staff at Sacramento, Calif.-based UC Davis Medical Center have received at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, CBS News reported Feb. 18. 

Nationwide, cases have fallen for five consecutive weeks, hospitalizations for four weeks and deaths for two weeks, according to The COVID Tracking Project's weekly update published Feb. 18. 

Florida health officials said they've increased security at the Orange County Convention Center after two women allegedly dressed up in elderly disguises to try and get second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, ABC News reported Feb. 18.