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COVID-19

State shatters monthly COVID-19 case mark

Considerably more COVID-19 cases have been reported during just the first 19 days of January in Ohio than there had been for any full month since the start of the pandemic nearly two years ago. The state had 423,110 COVID-19 cases reported for January through Wednesday. That’s already beaten the previous record for a full month, which occurred in December with 325,878 cases. The Ohio Department of Health admitted Friday it wasn’t able to keep an accurate COVID-19 count because of the unprecedented amount of cases in recent weeks. It said it has “antiquated technical ...

Aiming to make CDC nimble, agency director has rankled many

NEW YORK (AP) — From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the top U.S. public health agency has been criticized as too slow to collect and act on new information. Now, increasingly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also being criticized for moving too fast. One year ...

Thu. 10:04 a.m.: Europe considers new COVID-19 strategy: accepting the virus

MADRID (AP) — When the coronavirus pandemic was first declared, Spaniards were ordered to stay home for more than three months. For weeks, they were not allowed outside even for exercise. Children were banned from playgrounds, and the economy virtually stopped. But officials credited the ...

US begins offering 1B free COVID tests, but many more needed

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, people across the U.S. can log on to a government website and order free, at-home COVID-19 tests. But the White House push may do little to ease the omicron surge, and experts say Washington will have to do a lot more to fix the country's long-troubled testing system. The website, COVIDTests.gov, allows people to order four at-home tests per household, regardless of citizenship status, and have them delivered by mail. But the tests won't arrive for seven to 12 days, after omicron cases are expected to peak in many parts of the country. The ...

Tue. 8:31 a.m.: Hong Kong to kill 2,000 animals after hamsters get COVID-19

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities said today that they will kill about 2,000 small animals, including hamsters, after several tested positive for the coronavirus at a pet store where an employee was also infected. The city will also stop the sale of hamsters and the import of small ...