As the U.S. shattered global case records Jan. 3, reporting more than 1 million new daily COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations are also rising across the nation, causing some officials to declare a state of emergency to manage the surges.
Public Health
California's state Assembly is considering two bills to establish and fund universal healthcare in the state, according to a Jan. 6 Newsweek report.
West Virginia is seeking permission from the federal government to offer a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose to at-risk people, making it the first state to do so.
The U.S. is among 109 countries set to miss the World Health Organization's target of having every country fully vaccinate at least 70 percent of their populations against COVID-19 by mid-2022, projections from Our World in Data show.
U.S. policymakers must implement practical pandemic strategies that save hospitals while minimizing societal disruption, according to an op-ed published Jan. 3 by The Washington Post.
Advertisement
In alignment with the FDA's Jan. 3 expansion of Pfizer-BioNTech's booster, the CDC has cleared boosters for 12- to 15-year olds.
Preliminary research and anecdotal evidence from physicians suggest the omicron variant may cause slightly different symptoms than previous coronavirus strains. However, experts say it's still too early to make any definitive statements, according to The New York Times.
The CDC is standing by its newly updated isolation guidelines that state people with COVID-19 whose symptoms are improving and are fever-free may end isolation after five days without a negative test.
Though the concept isn't new, concurrent COVID-19 and flu infections have been dubbed "flurona" as more cases have been publicly reported, according to The Washington Post.
As COVID-19 hospitalizations surge across the nation, at least nine states are reporting record pediatric hospitalizations, NBC News reported Jan. 3.