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COVID-19

More COVID-19 shots, studies offer hope for US schools

WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials offered new hope for the safety of U.S. schoolchildren threatened by COVID-19 on Friday as Gulf Coast hospitals already full of unvaccinated patients braced for the nightmare scenario of a major hurricane causing a wave of fractures, cuts and heart attacks without enough staff to treat the injured. The Biden administration said half of U.S. adolescents ages 12-17 had gotten at least their first COVID-19 vaccine, and the inoculation rate among teens is growing faster than any other age group. “We have now hit a major milestone,” White House ...

GOP leaders reject Wolf’s call for mask mandate in schools

Whether students and staff should be required to mask up in Pennsylvania schools will remain a local decision, at least for now, after top Republican lawmakers on Thursday rejected Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s call for a statewide mandate. The majority of districts are not requiring masks as students return to class, and just 36% of Pennsylvania residents between the ages of 12 and 17 are fully vaccinated, according to recent federal data. Children under 12 are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Republican leaders acknowledged that coronavirus cases are again surging across the ...

Virus surge breaks hospital records amid rising toll on kids

Kentucky and Texas joined a growing list of states that are seeing record numbers of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in a surge that is overwhelming doctors and nurses and afflicting more children. Intensive care units around the nation are packed with patients extremely ill with the coronavirus — even in places where hospitalizations have not yet reached earlier peaks. The ICU units at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Georgia typically have room for 38 patients, and doctors and nurses may have only two or three people who are very sick, said Dr. Jyotir Mehta, medical director of ...

Wolf asks Legislature for law mandating masks in classrooms

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania schools need a statewide requirement that students in classrooms wear masks as protection against the coronavirus, the Democratic governor wrote in a letter Wednesday to legislative leaders. The message was a turnaround for Gov. Tom Wolf, who had maintained that a mask mandate was an issue for school boards to decide and questioned why Pennsylvania should mandate something that wasn’t mandated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In his letter, Wolf asked Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, and House Speaker Bryan ...

Geisinger requires COVID-19 vaccine for all employees

DANVILLE — Eighteen months into the COVID-19 pandemic and facing another surge in infections, hospitalizations and deaths, Geisinger is announcing all employees will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 15. Rooted in values for safety and high-quality care, the decision requiring employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine follows months of careful study and discussion. “Based on overwhelming evidence that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, we believe this is the right decision at the right time to protect our patients and employees and slow the spread ...

Council discusses masking at meetings

LOCK HAVEN — Before council could dive into its regular agenda items on Monday night, Councilman Richard Morris addressed masking in council chambers. “I noticed that the county and the city are still in the high transmission rate of COVID. Which has called for the wearing of masks in government buildings,” Morris said. Morris motioned to have members of council adhere to a mandate made by City Manager Gregory Wilson to staff. Due to the high rate of infection, Wilson mandated all staff and visitors to City Hall and other city owned facilities — regardless of vaccination ...