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COVID-19

School district that shunned mask mandate reverses decision

TAMAQUA, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania school district that openly flouted a statewide mask mandate for K-12 schools has reversed course and said it will require universal masking for students and others inside school buildings. The Tamaqua Area School Board voted 6-3 on Tuesday night to comply with the masking order from the state Health Department, which requires students, staff and visitors to cover their faces while indoors. Pennsylvania school districts had largely followed the masking order, even as some exploited an apparent loophole that made it easier for parents to request ...

CDC panel grapples with who needs a COVID-19 booster shot

An influential panel of advisers to the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention grappled Wednesday with the question of which Americans should get COVID-19 booster shots, with some members wondering if the decision should be put off for a month in hopes of more evidence. The doubts ...

Official: Pennsylvania ‘well prepared’ for vaccine boosters

HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s network of vaccine providers is ready to deliver booster shots of the coronavirus vaccine as soon as federal authorities sign off, the state’s top health official said Tuesday. More than 2,000 providers have COVID-19 vaccine inventory and will be able to administer the extra doses to people who are eligible, while continuing to offer initial vaccinations against the coronavirus, according to the state Health Department. “Vaccine providers are well prepared to start administering booster shoots as soon as the CDC gives final approval and ...

Geisinger updates visitation policies

DANVILLE — With continued increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Geisinger is updating its in-person visitation policies as part of our commitment to protect the safety of our patients, visitors and employees. Beginning Wednesday, Sept. 22, Geisinger’s updated visitation policy will go into effect for all hospital and outpatient locations. At all hospitals, changes include: — Admitted patients will be allowed two designated visitors through the duration of a hospital stay, meaning visitors may not switch out with other visitors. — Designated visitors will ...

Biden bets on rapid COVID tests but they can be hard to find

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is betting on millions more rapid, at-home tests to help curb the latest deadly wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is overloading hospitals and threatening to shutter classrooms around the country. But the tests have already disappeared from pharmacy shelves in many parts of the U.S., and manufacturers warn it will take them weeks to ramp up production, after scaling it back amid plummeting demand over the summer. The latest shortage is another painful reminder that the U.S. has yet to successfully manage its COVID-19 testing arsenal, let ...

‘Soul-crushing’: US COVID-19 deaths are topping 1,900 a day

COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have climbed to an average of more than 1,900 a day for the first time since early March, with experts saying the virus is preying largely on a distinct group: 71 million unvaccinated Americans. The increasingly lethal turn has filled hospitals, complicated the ...