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COVID-19

Where are the COVID-19 tests that Biden promised?

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced last month that the federal government will buy half a billion COVID-19 rapid test kits and distribute them free to people to use at home. But despite high public demand for tests, it will still be several more weeks before these kits are available to be shipped, White House officials said. DOES THE GOVERNMENT HAVE THE TESTS? Not yet. This week marked the close of an initial bidding period for test manufacturers to apply to the departments of Defense and Health and Human Services for contracts to make the tests. The first contract, ...

Omicron surge vexes parents of children too young for shots

Afternoons with Grammy. Birthday parties. Meeting other toddlers at the park. Parents of children too young to be vaccinated are facing difficult choices as an omicron variant-fueled surge in COVID-19 cases makes every encounter seem risky. For Maine business owner Erin Connolly, the most ...

Pandemic sidelines 800 police, firefighters in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A dramatic surge in coronavirus cases has sidelined more than 800 Los Angeles city police and fire personnel and led to slightly longer ambulance and fire response times, adding to concerns about shortages of critical staff including health care workers. Mayor Eric Garcetti said Thursday that more than 500 LAPD officers and other police employees and nearly 300 firefighters were off-duty after testing positive for COVID-19, though he said measures were being taken to ensure the safety of the public. “This is an incredibly tough moment,” Garcetti said. “The ...

Hospitals getting help from National Guard

Hospitals systems in the region remain at or near capacity because of surging cases of coronavirus and a need to continue to provide medical care for non-COVID-19 related patients. Whether it is UPMC, Geisinger Medical Center or Evangelical Community Hospital, much of the increases are presumed to be caused by the omicron variant, as indicated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state Department of Health. In this region, CDC officials said data shows 94% of cases are the omicron variant. Cases are soaring and stress levels at these health care facilities are ...

COVID patient count at Mountain Nittany is high

STATE COLLEGE — COVID-19 numbers are still on the rise in Centre County, according to the Mount Nittany Medical Center. The healthcare system posts daily updates regarding its number of hospitalizations due to the virus on its website, www.mountnittany.org. According to Wednesday’s numbers, 46 people were hospitalized due to contracting the virus. The age for these patients range from 25 to 90 with three in the ICU, two of which are on ventilators. The numbers broken down further indicate that 32 of these patients are not vaccinated, and 13 are fully vaccinated. “The ...

US hospitals seeing different kind of COVID surge this time

Hospitals across the U.S. are feeling the wrath of the omicron variant and getting thrown into disarray that is different from earlier COVID-19 surges. This time, they are dealing with serious staff shortages because so many health care workers are getting sick with the fast-spreading variant. People are showing up at emergency rooms in large numbers in hopes of getting tested for COVID-19, putting more strain on the system. And a surprising share of patients — two-thirds in some places — are testing positive while in the hospital for other reasons. At the same time, hospitals ...