Hospitalizations
U.S. District Judge Ends Federal Mask Mandate on Transit
A Trump-appointed U.S. district judge in Florida voided the Biden administration's mask mandate that applied to plane, train and bus travel. It had just been renewed by the CDC on April 13 and was due to expire on May 3.
Second Anniversary of the COVID-19 Pandemic
March 11 marked the second anniversary of WHO's declaration of the pandemic and the beginning of its third year. Cases continue to plummet in the U.S. and plateau globally while war in Europe has overshadowed the virus that has killed 6 million.
CDC Relaxes Guidance to Allow Most Americans to Ditch Masking
In a major reversal, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised the metrics and thresholds that determine when masking is recommended. Only 5% of counties met the old metric on Feb. 25; now 70% of Americans need not don a mask indoors.
Danish Paradox: High COVID Transmission Leads to Endemicity
The nation with the world's highest COVID infections per capita was the first in Europe to end almost all coronavirus restrictions. The decision comes with the declaration that as of Feb. 1, COVID is no longer a "socially critical disease" in Denmark
COVID Deaths: U.S. in a League of its Own
An analysis by The New York Times compares current and cumulative COVID deaths in the U.S. to other large, wealthy countries. Data analyzed include vaccination, age and obesity levels, and public trust, all factors that influence outcomes.
Omicron Breaks Another Pandemic Record: Hospitalizations
The highly infectious Omicron variant is contributing to a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. The record set in last winter's surge fell on Tuesday as hospitals suffer from massive labor shortages caused by the variant.
Pandemic Endgame: Danish Epidemiologist's Prediction
Based on the results of a new study on the transmission of the Omicron variant in Denmark released by the Statens Serum Institut, Tyra Grove Krause, the institute's chief epidemiologist, said, "We will have our normal lives back in two months."
State Hospitalization Record Breaks as Omicron Surges
Infections from the Omicron variant, which early studies suggest cause less severe illness than the Delta variant, may be contributing to a record number of hospitalizations in Ohio, the highest since the start of the pandemic.
Nation's Capital Is #1 COVID Hotspot
Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations per capita in the District of Columbia are higher than in any state or U.S. territory on New Year's Day. Only Puerto Rico and Louisiana have seen hospitalizations increase faster than D.C. in the last two weeks.
Your Date With Omicron
“All of us have a date with omicron,” Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told The Associated Press on Dec. 20, adding "...and the best way you can encounter this is to be fully vaccinated.”
'A Tidal Wave of Omicron Coming'
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sounded an alarm on the public health threat posed by the Omicron variant. On Monday, he announced that a British resident had become the first person in the world whose death is tied to the new variant.
Revisiting Vermont: A COVID Update
PBS NewsHour investigates the surging coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in Vermont which, along with Rhode Island, has 75% of its total population fully vaccinated, the nation's highest, as the U.S. appears to enter a winter surge.
Swiss Vote to Retain COVID Mitigation Measures
A nationwide referendum held on Sunday, Nov. 28, on coronavirus measures enacted by the Swiss federal government, including the controversial Swiss Covid certificate (vaccination verification), passed with 62% of the vote.
COVID: Colorado Activates Partial Crisis Standards of Care
In a sign that the pandemic is far from over, Colorado reactivated its crisis standards of care for staffing of health care systems on Nov. 9 as infections increased modestly nationwide. Gov. Polis made all vaccinated adults eligible for a booster.
Global COVID Death Toll Reaches Another Grim Milestone
The official death toll due to COVID-19 since the first recorded death in Wuhan, China, on Jan. 10, 2020, passed 5 million on Nov. 1, although The New York Times stresses that's a vast undercount. The WHO points to Europe as the latest hot spot.
Pandemic Geography: What's Going on in Singapore?
With 82% of its population fully vaccinated, mostly with mRNA vaccines, COVID case incidence on Nov. 1 is the same as Wyoming, where 44% of the population is fully vaccinated. Hospitals are feeling the strain, and deaths are at their highest level.
Boosters and Breakthroughs in Vermont
The most vaccinated state in the U.S. may tell us where the future of the country is headed in the war against the coronavirus. Could it become a 'pandemic of the vaccinated'?
The Pandemic Crisis Is a Hospital Crisis
"Flatten the curve" was one of the first pandemic terms that Americans heard during the first surge. The idea was to reduce coronavirus transmission so as to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. But which curve? Case in point: Idaho.
Louisiana's Health Care System on Brink of Collapse
We've been here many times before in the pandemic, but without the benefit of a vaccine. Gov. John Bel Edwards, one of a few governors to mandate mask-wearing indoors, warns of a collapse of the health care system, but also rules out restrictions.
The Vaccinated Account for 20 Percent of Covid Infections in a Few Hot Spots
All Americans, vaccinated and unvaccinated, are still in this pandemic together.
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This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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