WEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) — The record-breaking numbers surrounding the Omicron surge are dizzying, with so many Americans falling prey to the highly infectious COVID-19 variant. The United States reported more than 1.3 million COVID cases on Monday, the highest daily total recorded for any country in theContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) — The Omicron surge may have peaked in Britain and could be about to do the same in the United States, experts report. That’s because the COVID-19 variant first detected in South Africa in mid-November is so contagious that the variant may already beContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Countering earlier concerns, a real-world study finds that a widely used at-home coronavirus test called BinaxNOW is as effective at detecting Omicron as other COVID-19 variants. The study of Abbot’s rapid antigen test included more than 700 people who visited a walk-up testingContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) — In an effort to keep kids in classrooms, the White House announced Wednesday that 10 million free coronavirus tests will be provided to schools around the country every month while the wildly contagious Omicron variant continues to surge. President Joe Biden has beenContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) – In ancient times, intestinal parasites weren’t just an affliction of the poor. Even the well-to-do had them. Researchers studied the contents of a cesspit beneath a toilet in Jerusalem. They found the remains of several types of intestinal parasite eggs that would haveContinue Reading
TUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Pfizer Inc. said Tuesday that a COVID-19 vaccine that specifically targets the Omicron variant will be ready by March. The company has already started making the new version of the vaccine, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC‘s “Squawk Box,” CBS News reported. OmicronContinue Reading
TUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Americans should avoid travel to Canada due to “very high” levels of COVID-19 cases in that country, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. The agency placed Canada under a Level 4 travel health notice, which is the highest categoryContinue Reading
TUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) — The United States has passed another grim milestone in the pandemic as the Omicron variant races across the country: COVID hospitalizations have now eclipsed a previous peak, which was seen last January. There were 142,388 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Sunday, moreContinue Reading
TUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Private insurers will have to cover the cost of eight at-home COVID tests per person per month as of Saturday, the Biden administration announced Monday. “Today’s action further removes financial barriers and expands access to COVID-19 tests for millions of people,” Chiquita Brooks-LaSure,Continue Reading
MONDAY, Jan. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Researchers say they’ve uncovered a clue to why the Omicron variant spreads COVID-19 so much more rapidly than its predecessors. People who are infected but have no symptoms are still far more likely to infect others than they would have been with earlierContinue Reading