Public Health

HHS extended the COVID-19 public health emergency July 15.

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all increasing nationwide as the highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to spread, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published July 15.

As reported monkeypox cases climb to 1,470 in the U.S. and hit nearly every state, health experts say the delayed response to the outbreak is eerily similar to the onset of COVID-19. 

Two years after the HHS cleared patients to take methadone, an opioid overdose treatment that's also an opioid, the number of opioid-related deaths didn't change, according to research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the CDC. 

At least 1,010 probable cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin have been identified among children in 35 countries, the World Health Organization said July 12.

As the highly transmissible BA.5 subvariant spreads nationwide and the federal government is encouraging booster shots for eligible adults, some experts are questioning whether it's time to update the definition of "fully vaccinated."

As of July 13, 1,053 monkeypox cases have been confirmed across 41 states and Washington, D.C., according to the CDC. 

News outlets have been referring to BA.2.75 — the latest omicron relative catching experts' attention — as "Centaurus," but the World Health Organization has not assigned it a name. 

The dominance of the COVID-19 omicron variant continues to persist throughout the U.S., with subvariant BA.5 now accounting for 53.6 percent of the nation's cases, but one expert says it could be hard to predict what will happen next.

The World Health Organization is urging governments around the world to ramp up surveillance, testing and vaccine deployment as omicron subvariants drive a rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.