The U.S. plans to ship 1 billion rapid at-home test kits to Americans, President Joe Biden said during a Jan. 13 update on the nation's COVID-19 response efforts.
Public Health
A record-high 15 million new COVID-19 cases were reported worldwide in one week, World Health Organization officials said during a Jan. 12 news briefing.
The CDC does not plan on updating its COVID-19 mask guidance to recommend that people wear higher-quality masks over cloth ones.
The White House has selected Tom Inglesby, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, Md., as it's new COVID-19 testing director.
Early research suggests that the diagnostic tests most commonly used in the U.S. may not be the most effective at detecting the omicron coronavirus variant.
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The opioid epidemic has not spared older Americans, as overdose deaths among Americans ages 55 and older have steadily increased from 1999-2019, according to a study published Jan. 11 in JAMA Network Open.
The American Hospital Association is calling on the federal government to renew two emergency declarations related to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure continued support for hospitals responding to the crisis.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Jan. 11 reinstated a public health emergency to help health systems experiencing a COVID-19 surge.
New findings about omicron's spread and severity are emerging daily, with recent research pointing to a higher rate of asymptomatic spread and lower hospitalization risk.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a limited public health emergency Jan. 11 amid the latest COVID-19 surge fueled by the omicron variant.