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COVID-19

Australia’s largest city, Sydney, locks down for third week

CANBERRA, Australia — Sydney’s two-week lockdown has been extended for another week due to the vulnerability of an Australia population largely unvaccinated against COVID-19, officials said on Wednesday. “The situation we’re in now is largely because we haven’t been able to get the vaccine that we need,” New South Wales state Health Minister Brad Hazzard said. The decision to extend the lockdown through July 16 was made on health advice, state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. “The reason why we’ve extended the lockdown is because of a number of cases still ...

Rural Kentucky health officials press on, one shot at a time

TAYLORSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — John Rogers waited months after becoming eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. It was only after talking with friends that the 66-year-old retiree from rural Spencer County, Kentucky, was persuaded to get the shot. “They said, ‘You know, the vaccine may not be ...

Johnson says restrictions to ease, UK must live with virus

LONDON (AP) — Britain plans to scrap laws requiring face masks and social distancing later this month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Monday, even as he acknowledged that lifting the restrictions will drive surging coronavirus cases higher. Johnson said legal controls will be ...

Spain restricts nightlife as virus surges among the young

MADRID (AP) — Faced with soaring numbers of new coronavirus infections among unvaccinated young people, some Spanish regions are reinstating curbs on nightlife only weeks after dropping them. Fearing that the surging contagion could strain health care services as stressed employees try to ...

Southwest, American delays hint at hard summer for travelers

This summer is already shaping up to be a difficult one for air travelers. Southwest Airlines customers have struggled with thousands of delays and hundreds of canceled flights in the past three weeks because of computer problems, staffing shortages and bad weather. American Airlines is ...

Biden sees virus ‘independence,’ but COVID takes no holiday

WASHINGTON— After nearly six months in office, grappling with a pandemic every step of that way, President Joe Biden was determined to party. “This is a holiday weekend,” Biden declared on Friday as he parried journalists’ “negative” questions about the ongoing U.S. troop ...