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Washington plans to distribute millions of at-home COVID tests and masks as omicron surges

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January 6, 2022, 7:30am Health Free

Washington will begin distributing millions of at-home coronavirus tests and masks and will expand vaccination clinics in an effort to blunt the wave of omicron cases, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Wednesday. Read story

Oregon sees daily COVID record; cases climb 140%

January 5, 2022, 7:23pm Health

Oregon set a daily record for the number of new COVID-19 cases Wednesday for the third time in a week and health officials said more than one in five tests administered were coming back as positive for the virus — more than double the rate recorded last week. Read story

Washington state orders 5.5 million at-home tests for public

January 5, 2022, 3:02pm Health

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Wednesday the state has ordered 5.5 million at-home tests to distribute to the public and will improve booster vaccine access and supply about 10 million free protective masks amid a steep increase in COVID-19 cases due to the more contagious omicron variant. Read story

Registered nurse Rachel Chamberlin, of Cornish, N.H., right, steps out of an isolation room where where Fred Rutherford, of Claremont, N.H., left, recovers from COVID-19 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, in Lebanon, N.H., Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. Hospitals like this medical center, the largest in New Hampshire, are overflowing with severely ill, unvaccinated COVID-19 patients from northern New England. If he returns home, Rutherford said, he promises to get vaccinated and tell others to do so, too.

U.S. hospitals seeing different kind of COVID surge this time

Registered nurse Rachel Chamberlin, of Cornish, N.H., right, steps out of an isolation room where where Fred Rutherford, of Claremont, N.H., left, recovers from COVID-19 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, in Lebanon, N.H., Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. Hospitals like this medical center, the largest in New Hampshire, are overflowing with severely ill, unvaccinated COVID-19 patients from northern New England. If he returns home, Rutherford said, he promises to get vaccinated and tell others to do so, too.

January 5, 2022, 11:20am Health Free

Hospitals across the U.S. are feeling the wrath of the omicron variant and getting thrown into disarray that is different from earlier COVID-19 surges. Read story

A man receives his fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine in a private nursing home in Petah Tikva, Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. Even in relatively small, wealthy Israel, an early global leader against the coronavirus pandemic, the omicron variant is outpacing the government's ability to make and execute clear pandemic public policy. What once was a straightforward regimen of vaccines, testing, contact tracing and distancing for the nation of 9.3 million has splintered into a zigzag of rules that seem to change every few days.

In Israel, omicron drives records, zigzag policy, 4th shots

A man receives his fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine in a private nursing home in Petah Tikva, Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. Even in relatively small, wealthy Israel, an early global leader against the coronavirus pandemic, the omicron variant is outpacing the government's ability to make and execute clear pandemic public policy. What once was a straightforward regimen of vaccines, testing, contact tracing and distancing for the nation of 9.3 million has splintered into a zigzag of rules that seem to change every few days.

January 5, 2022, 8:26am Health

Israel opened to tourists for the first time in nearly two years. After just a month, it slammed shut. Now the omicron variant has set a widely-expected record for new infections in the country, which will once again crack open on Sunday — but only to travelers from certain nations. Read story

People queue outside a local health center in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. An unprecedented number of coronavirus infections is once again exposing the underfunding and shortcomings of public health care systems, even in developed parts of Europe. Spain is especially feeling the crunch.

Virus surge tests limits of primary health care in Europe

People queue outside a local health center in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. An unprecedented number of coronavirus infections is once again exposing the underfunding and shortcomings of public health care systems, even in developed parts of Europe. Spain is especially feeling the crunch.

January 5, 2022, 8:20am Health

Like many people, Alberto Pérez of Madrid used a home test to discover that his headache and cold-like symptoms were caused by COVID-19. Read story

President Joe Biden arrives to meet with the White House COVID-19 Response Team on the latest developments related to the Omicron variant in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Campus in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022.

Biden: No need for alarm over omicron

President Joe Biden arrives to meet with the White House COVID-19 Response Team on the latest developments related to the Omicron variant in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Campus in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022.

January 4, 2022, 6:47pm Health

President Joe Biden urged concern but not alarm Tuesday as the United States set records for daily reported COVID-19 cases and his administration struggled to ease concerns about testing shortages, school closures and other disruptions caused by the omicron variant. Read story

FILE - A man is tested for COVID-19, at a walk-up testing site run by Nomi Health, Dec. 28, 2021, in downtown Miami. More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have soared to the highest level on record at over 265,000 per day on average, a surge driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant.

COVID case counts may be losing importance amid omicron

FILE - A man is tested for COVID-19, at a walk-up testing site run by Nomi Health, Dec. 28, 2021, in downtown Miami. More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have soared to the highest level on record at over 265,000 per day on average, a surge driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant.

January 4, 2022, 3:40pm Health

The explosive increase in U.S. coronavirus case counts is raising alarm, but some experts believe the focus should instead be on COVID-19 hospital admissions. And those aren’t climbing as fast. Read story

A health worker gives a shot of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine inside the Solidary Hands Shelter for the homeless in the poor neighborhood of Ceilandia in Brasilia, Brazil, in June.

Why are so many vaccinated people getting COVID-19 lately?

A health worker gives a shot of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine inside the Solidary Hands Shelter for the homeless in the poor neighborhood of Ceilandia in Brasilia, Brazil, in June.

January 4, 2022, 8:49am Health

Why are so many vaccinated people getting COVID-19 lately? Read story

Mo Golden, NASM CPT, works Dec. 14 with Marcia Ouellette 80,of Upper Arlington at Personal Level Fitness in Columbus, Ohio. (Barbara J.

How to keep your resolutions

Mo Golden, NASM CPT, works Dec. 14 with Marcia Ouellette 80,of Upper Arlington at Personal Level Fitness in Columbus, Ohio. (Barbara J.

January 4, 2022, 6:06am Health

It’s the start of 2022, which for many means once again setting New Year’s resolutions. Read story