covid-19

UK Dropping COVID Testing for Arriving International Travelers

UK Dropping COVID Testing for Arriving International Travelers

DONALD WOOD | TravelPulse.Com Troy Warren for CNT #Travel  #COVID-19 The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom announced fully vaccinated international travelers will no longer be required to take a coronavirus test upon arrival. The new rule will begin on February 11, 2022. According to BBC.com, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the decline in Omicron cases and success doctors had against the latest highly contagious COVID-19 strain would result in the country’s economy reopening. “And although we have to be cautious, we are now moving through the Omicron wave, and you can see the figures are starting to get…
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Study highlights where you’re most likely to get COVID-19

Study highlights where you’re most likely to get COVID-19

By Mitchell Willetts, Charlotte ObserverTroy Warren for CNT #COVID-19  #EditorsPicksResearchers analyzed factors that hinder and aid the virus’ spread during outbreaks and superspreader eventsWhat are the odds of catching COVID-19 after a night at the movie theater? How about an afternoon at the gym, unmasked? Or an early morning jog in a neighborhood park?It’s well known that certain places and activities carry varying risks of coronavirus exposure, but a new study takes away much of the guesswork, offering clear estimates instead.Researchers behind the paper analyzed outbreaks and superspreader events and studied factors that hinder and aid the virus’ spread, to…
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World Health Organization Says COVID-Related Travel Restrictions Should Be Lifted

World Health Organization Says COVID-Related Travel Restrictions Should Be Lifted

DONALD WOOD | TravelPulse.ComTroy Warren for CNT #Travel  #COVID-19The World Health Organization (WHO) announced new recommendations for countries to lift or ease existing COVID-19-related travel restrictions.According to VOANews.com, the WHO’s International Health Regulations Emergency Committee said during a recent meeting that coronavirus-related restrictions “do not provide added value and continue to contribute to the economic and social stress experienced by citizens.”WHO officials said the unmitigated spread of the Omicron variant shows the ineffectiveness of travel restrictions over time. The agency revealed safety measures such as masking, testing, isolation/quarantine and vaccination “should be based on risk assessments to avoid placing an…
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EXPLAINER: What does it mean for COVID-19 to be endemic?

EXPLAINER: What does it mean for COVID-19 to be endemic?

By MARIA CHENG, Associated PressTroy Warren for CNT #COVID-19  #HealthSome European countries such as Spain are making tentative plans for when they might start treating COVID-19 as an “endemic” disease, but the World Health Organization and other officials have warned that the world is nowhere close to declaring the pandemic over. A look at what endemic means and the implications for the future.WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR A DISEASE TO BE ENDEMIC AS OPPOSED TO PANDEMIC?Diseases are endemic when they occur regularly in certain areas according to established patterns, while a pandemic refers to a global outbreak that causes unpredictable…
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White House soft-launches COVID-19 test request website

White House soft-launches COVID-19 test request website

By ZEKE MILLER and MATT O'BRIEN, Associated PressTroy Warren for CNT #COVID-19WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Tuesday quietly launched its website for Americans to request free at-home COVID-19 tests, a day before the site was scheduled to officially go online.The website, COVIDTests.gov, now includes a link for "every home in the U.S." to access an order form run by the U.S. Postal Service. People can order four at-home tests per residential address, to be delivered by the Postal Service. It marks the latest step by President Joe Biden to address criticism of low inventory and long lines for…
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Expect more worrisome variants after omicron, scientists say

Expect more worrisome variants after omicron, scientists say

By LAURA UNGAR, Associated PressTroy Warren for CNT #COVID-19Scientists warn that omicron’s whirlwind spread across the globe practically ensures it won’t be the last worrisome coronavirus variantGet ready to learn more Greek letters. Scientists warn that omicron’s whirlwind advance practically ensures it won’t be the last version of the coronavirus to worry the world.Every infection provides a chance for the virus to mutate, and omicron has an edge over its predecessors: It spreads way faster despite emerging on a planet with a stronger patchwork of immunity from vaccines and prior illness.That means more people in whom the virus can further…
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Why is this COVID surge so different from the others? Here’s what doctors say

Why is this COVID surge so different from the others? Here’s what doctors say

By Helena Oliviero - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution J. Scott Trubey - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Ariel Hart - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Troy Warren for CNT #Health  #COVID-19 Coronavirus infections have reached record levels in Georgia. Though omicron causes a more mild illness for many, especially the vaccinated, it’s so contagious, it’s overwhelming hospitals and pushing the health care system to the brink. But this wave is also different. Here’s a look at what Georgia doctors have to say about what they’re seeing in their practices and hospitals and the latest wave of cases. Q: What is the latest trend line of…
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Super contagious omicron leaves employers and workers scrambling

Super contagious omicron leaves employers and workers scrambling

By Kelly Yamanouchi, The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionTroy Warren for CNT #COVID-19It was just before Christmas when Les Mains Nail Bar owner Linda Vo found out that a worker at her upper westside Atlanta salon had tested positive for COVID-19. To keep the virus from running rampant through her staff, and maybe even her customers, Vo made the difficult decision to temporarily shut down that location.Some of the salon’s clients questioned whether the closure was really necessary. Vo has no doubt that it was. Soon after the first worker diagnosis came a second. And on and on it might have gone.The virus’s…
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Delta: 8,000 employees tested positive for COVID-19 in last four weeks

Delta: 8,000 employees tested positive for COVID-19 in last four weeks

By Kelly Yamanouchi, The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionTroy Warren for CNT #Travel  #Business  #COVID-19Delta Air Lines said about 8,000 of its more than 75,000 employees tested positive for COVID-19 in the last four weeks, contributing to thousands of flight cancellations over the busy holiday travel season.Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the omicron variant is moving rapidly. Employees have been returning to work after recovering, allowing the airline to stabilize operations over the last week.Delta in late December pushed for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce the recommended isolation time for positive cases…
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Omicron may be headed for a rapid drop in Britain, US

Omicron may be headed for a rapid drop in Britain, US

By MARIA CHENG and CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated PressTroy Warren for CNT #COVID-19Scientists are seeing signals that COVID-19′s alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the U.S., at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically.The reason: The variant has proved so wildly contagious that it may already be running out of people to infect, just a month and a half after it was first detected in South Africa.“It’s going to come down as fast as it went up,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University…
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