COVID-19: Latest News – Winnipeg Free Press

Jeorganna Barnes, a worker at Harrah's casino, on July 1, 2020, in Atlantic City, N.J., wipes slot machines with disinfectant as the casino prepared to reopen after 3 1/2 months of being shut down due to the coronavirus. On March 11, 2024, an independent report examining New Jersey's response to the pandemic said the state and nation were unprepared for it, adding the state is still underprepared for the next crisis. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

Report: New Jersey and US were not prepared for COVID-19 and state remains so for the next crisis

Wayne Parry, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 1:25 PM CDT

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey and the nation were not prepared when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the state “remains underprepared for the next emergency,” according to an independent report examining New Jersey's response to the pandemic that sickened nearly 3 million people statewide and killed over 33,000.

The report released Monday faults planning, communication and decision-making before and during the pandemic, which broke out in early 2020.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy called the pandemic “the greatest crisis our state has ever faced.”

He promised an outside review of his administration's response to the outbreak in its early days. The $9 million publicly funded report was done by the law firm of Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP and Boston Consulting Group. It was led by Paul Zoubek, a former assistant state attorney general.

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Friday is the last day US consumers can place mail orders for free COVID tests from the government

Wyatte Grantham-philips, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Friday is the last day US consumers can place mail orders for free COVID tests from the government

Wyatte Grantham-philips, The Associated Press 3 minute read Friday, Mar. 8, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government is suspending mail orders for free COVID-19 tests — at least for now.

Friday March 8 is the last day residential households can request free virus tests shipped through the United States Postal Service. According to the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, a division of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, orders are set to close at 11:59 p.m. PT.

“ASPR has delivered over 1.8 billion free COVID-19 tests to the American people through COVIDTests.gov and direct distribution pathways and will continue distributing millions of tests per week to long-term care facilities, food banks, health centers, and schools,” a spokesperson for ASPR said in a prepared statement sent to The Associated Press.

Mail orders for free COVID tests from the government have been paused or expanded before. Despite Friday's suspension, it's still possible for the program to resume again down the road — with ASPR noting that it reserves the right to use COVIDTest.gov in the future as needed.

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Friday, Mar. 8, 2024

FILE - A United States government website is displayed on a computer, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, in Walpole, Mass., that features a page where people can order free, at-home COVID-19 tests. The U.S. government is suspending mail orders for free COVID-19 tests, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

White House lifting its COVID-19 testing rule for people around Biden, ending a pandemic vestige

Zeke Miller, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

White House lifting its COVID-19 testing rule for people around Biden, ending a pandemic vestige

Zeke Miller, The Associated Press 3 minute read Monday, Mar. 4, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Monday lifted its COVID-19 testing requirement for those who plan to be in close contact with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses, bringing to an end the last coronavirus prevention protocol at the White House.

The White House said the change aligns its policies with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. The agency last week relaxed its recommendation that those who test positive for COVID-19 isolate for five days. Now, the agency says people can return to work or regular activities if their symptoms are mild and improving and it’s been a day since they’ve had a fever.

The White House testing protocol was instituted shortly after the pandemic began in 2020 when former President Donald Trump was in the White House. It was further strengthened by Biden's administration when he took office amid the pandemic in January 2021.

Both Trump and Biden contracted the virus while in office. Trump required hospitalization after falling seriously ill weeks before the 2020 presidential election; Biden had minimal symptoms after catching it in the summer of 2022 after having been vaccinated.

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Monday, Mar. 4, 2024

President Joe Biden walks towards Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 1, 2024, to travel to Camp David, Md., for the weekend. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The CDC has relaxed COVID guidelines. Will schools and day cares follow suit?

Bianca Vázquez Toness And Moriah Balingit, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

The CDC has relaxed COVID guidelines. Will schools and day cares follow suit?

Bianca Vázquez Toness And Moriah Balingit, The Associated Press 7 minute read Friday, Mar. 1, 2024

BOSTON (AP) — Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools and upended child care, the CDC says parents can start treating the virus like other respiratory illnesses.

Gone are mandated isolation periods and masking. But will schools and child care centers agree?

In case you’ve lost track: Before Friday, all Americans, including school children, were supposed to stay home for at least five days if they had COVID-19 and then mask for a set period of time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Now, with COVID deaths and hospitalizations dropping, the CDC says children can go back to school when their overall symptoms improve and they’re fever-free for 24 hours without taking medication. Students are “encouraged” to wear a mask when they return.

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Friday, Mar. 1, 2024

FILE - A student wears a mask and face shield in a 4th grade class amid the COVID-19 pandemic at Washington Elementary School on Jan. 12, 2022, in Lynwood, Calif. Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools and upended child care, the CDC says parents can start treating the virus like other respiratory illnesses. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

COVID-19 no longer means five days in isolation, CDC says

Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

COVID-19 no longer means five days in isolation, CDC says

Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press 5 minute read Friday, Mar. 1, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans who test positive for COVID-19 no longer need to stay in isolation for five days, U.S. health officials announced Friday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its longstanding guidance, saying that people can return to work or regular activities if their symptoms are mild and improving and it's been a day since they've had a fever.

The change comes at a time when COVID-19 is no longer the public health menace it once was. It dropped from being the nation's third leading cause of death early in the pandemic to 10th last year.

Most people have some degree of immunity to the coronavirus from vaccinations or from infections. And many people are not following the five-day isolation guidance anyway, some experts say.

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Friday, Mar. 1, 2024

FILE - McKenna Shuster works on a linocut art print which she does as a hobby in her home on the last night of a two-week self-isolation while recovering from symptoms of COVID-19 in Somerville, Mass., on March 26, 2020. On Friday, March 1, 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said people who test positive for COVID-19 no longer need to stay in isolation for five days. The CDC changed its longstanding guidance, saying that people can return to work or regular activities if their symptoms are mild and improving and it's been a day since they've had a fever. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Older US adults should get another COVID-19 shot, health officials recommend

Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Older US adults should get another COVID-19 shot, health officials recommend

Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press 5 minute read Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — Older U.S. adults should roll up their sleeves for another COVID-19 shot, even if they got a booster in the fall, U.S. health officials said Wednesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Americans 65 and older should get another dose of the updated vaccine that became available in September — if at least four months has passed since their last shot. In making the recommendation, the agency endorsed guidance proposed by an expert advisory panel earlier in the day.

“Most COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations last year were among people 65 years and older. An additional vaccine dose can provide added protection ... for those at highest risk,” CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in a statement.

The advisory panel's decision came after a lengthy discussion about whether to say older people “may” get the shots or if they “should" do so. That reflects a debate among experts about how necessary another booster is and whether yet another recommendation would add to the public's growing vaccine fatigue.

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Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024

FILE - Comirnaty, a new Pfizer/BioNTech vaccination booster for COVID-19, is displayed at a pharmacy in Orlando, Fla., on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. Older U.S. adults should roll up their sleeves for another COVID-19 shot, even if they received a booster in the fall, an influential government advisory panel said Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)

Respiratory issues send more to hospital over last year

Katie May 3 minute read Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024

A widespread increase in respiratory illness is being blamed for more hospitalizations across Canada over the past year.

In Manitoba, the hospitalization rate is slightly higher than the national average.

New new data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information show respiratory problems — COVID-19, influenza, pneumonia and asthma — caused a “significant increase” in the rate of children who were hospitalized from 2022 to 2023.

The level of respiratory virus in children 17 and under has either rebounded to pre-pandemic levels or significantly increased, the institute states.

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New York woman sentenced to probation and fines in COVID aid fraud schemes

The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

New York woman sentenced to probation and fines in COVID aid fraud schemes

The Associated Press 3 minute read Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — A Brooklyn woman who pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with various pandemic-era relief schemes was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation and $650,000 in penalties.

Prosecutors said Chanette Lewis, 32, carried out some of the schemes by leveraging her job at a call center, part of a New York program meant to provide health care workers with isolation rooms in hotels. They said she provided free hotel rooms to people she knew weren’t eligible health care workers or COVID-19 patients, including herself.

“During the pandemic, this defendant exploited a COVID-19 safe-lodging program for her personal profit; today she faces the consequences of her criminal conduct. I thank New York City Emergency Management for reporting this matter," New York Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said in a statement.

It’s the latest example of how people are believed to have stolen an estimated $280 billion in government aid during the pandemic across the U.S., including New York. The sentencing Thursday was part of a larger case involving $400,000 of fraud in the hotel program.

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Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024

FILE - A sign advertises a COVID-19 vaccination site in New York, Feb. 2, 2021. A Brooklyn woman who pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with various pandemic-era relief schemes was sentenced Thursday, Feb 8, 2024, to three years of probation and $650,000 in penalties. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Not wearing a mask during COVID-19 health emergency isn’t a free speech right, appeals court says

Mike Catalini, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Not wearing a mask during COVID-19 health emergency isn’t a free speech right, appeals court says

Mike Catalini, The Associated Press 4 minute read Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A federal appeals court shot down claims Monday that New Jersey residents' refusal to wear face masks at school board meetings during the COVID-19 outbreak constituted protected speech under the First Amendment.

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling in two related cases stemming from lawsuits against officials in Freehold and Cranford, New Jersey.

The suits revolved around claims that the plaintiffs were retaliated against by school boards because they refused to wear masks during public meetings. In one of the suits, the court sent the case back to a lower court for consideration. In the other, it said the plaintiff failed to show she was retaliated against.

Still, the court found that refusing to wear a mask during a public health emergency didn't amount to free speech protected by the Constitution.

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Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024

FILE - Boxes of KN95 protective masks are stacked together before being distributed to students at Camden High School in Camden, N.J., Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022. A federal appeals court shot down claims that New Jersey residents' refusal to wear face masks during the COVID-19 outbreak at school board meetings constituted protected speech under the First Amendment. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in two related cases stemming from lawsuits against officials in Freehold and Cranford, N.J. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

COVID-19 reinfection rates high among people who are homeless, Toronto study says

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

COVID-19 reinfection rates high among people who are homeless, Toronto study says

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Friday, Feb. 2, 2024

TORONTO - People who are homeless have high rates of COVID-19 reinfection, putting the health of an already vulnerable population at further risk, a study published Friday in the BMC Infectious Diseases journal says.

Homeless people in Toronto who had COVID-19 were more than twice as likely to get it again as people who had housing, said lead author Lucie Richard, a senior research associate at the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael's Hospital.

The higher rates of reinfection are likely due to increased exposure to the virus as homeless people are "forced to reside in congregate, crowded shared settings which are rife with transmission," Richard said.

They are also more likely than the general public to have underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable to illness, she said.

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Friday, Feb. 2, 2024

A woman looks through some belongings outside of the St. Stephen-In-The-Fields Anglican Church in Toronto as the city begins clearing out the encampment on Friday Nov. 24, 2023. New research published today says people who are homeless have high rates of COVID-19 reinfection. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Newest COVID shots are 54% effective in preventing symptoms, CDC finds

Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Newest COVID shots are 54% effective in preventing symptoms, CDC finds

Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press 3 minute read Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — The latest versions of COVID-19 vaccines were 54% effective at preventing symptomatic infection in adults, according to the first U.S. study to assess how well the shots work.

The shots became available last year and were designed to better protect against more recent coronavirus variants.

In Thursday's study, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at 9,000 people who got tested for COVID-19 at CVS and Walgreens pharmacies, checking who tested positive and whether they had gotten a new shot or not.

The 54% finding is similar to what's been reported in other countries, and it's also about what was reported for an earlier vaccine version, said the Ruth Link-Gelles of the CDC, the study's lead author.

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Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024

Nova Scotia church fined $5,000 for violating COVID-19 gathering rules in 2021

Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Nova Scotia church fined $5,000 for violating COVID-19 gathering rules in 2021

Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024

HALIFAX - A Nova Scotia court has fined a church in the Annapolis Valley $5,000 for violating provincial restrictions on faith gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Weston Christian Fellowship Church in Berwick, N.S., held a service on May 9, 2021, with more than the permitted number of participants, according to the agreed statement of facts in the case.

Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health had prohibited faith gatherings of more than five people from April 29, 2021, to June 4, 2021.

In a provincial court hearing Tuesday in Windsor, N.S., Judge Angela Caseley found the church guilty and accepted the $5,000 fine agreed to by the Crown and the defence counsel.

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Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024

A church in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley has been fined $5,000 for violating provincial restrictions on faith gatherings at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nova Scotia's provincial flag flies in Ottawa on Friday, July 3, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Teary ex-Scottish leader admits to feeling ‘overwhelmed’ during COVID-19 pandemic

Pan Pylas, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Teary ex-Scottish leader admits to feeling ‘overwhelmed’ during COVID-19 pandemic

Pan Pylas, The Associated Press 5 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024

LONDON (AP) — The former Scottish leader in office during the COVID-19 pandemic choked up Wednesday as she admitted to a public inquiry into the outbreak that she sometimes doubted whether she wanted to be first minister at such a consequential time.

Nicola Sturgeon told the United Kingdom’s public inquiry into the pandemic that she sometimes felt “overwhelmed by the scale of what we were dealing with,” particularly at the start of the pandemic in the first half of 2020. Although Scotland is part of the U.K., its government has powers over matters relating to public health.

“I was the first minister when the pandemic struck,” she said in Edinburgh. “There’s a large part of me wishes that I hadn’t been, but I was, and I wanted to be the best first minister.”

Sturgeon, 53, became first minister in 2014 after Scotland voted to remain part of the U.K. in a referendum and was in office until her surprise resignation in 2023.

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Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024

Former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon arrives for the UK Covid-19 Inquiry hearing at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) in Edinburgh, Scotland, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. The Scottish leader during the COVID-19 pandemic has admitted that she did delete WhatsApp messages but insisted that anything of relevance to how policymaking was conducted had been made available for the public record. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

New Jersey Supreme Court rules against Ocean casino in COVID business interruption case

Wayne Parry, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

New Jersey Supreme Court rules against Ocean casino in COVID business interruption case

Wayne Parry, The Associated Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an Atlantic City casino is not entitled to payouts from business interruption insurance for losses during the COVID-19 outbreak, determining that the presence of the virus did not constitute the kind of “direct physical loss or damage” required for such a payout.

The case involved the Ocean Casino Resort's claims against three insurance companies — AIG Specialty Insurance Co., American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Co. and Interstate Fire & Casualty Co. Those insurers largely denied payouts to the casino, saying it did not suffer direct physical loss or damage because of the virus.

The casino sued and defeated an attempt by the insurers to dismiss the case. But that decision was reversed by an appellate court.

The high court agreed to take the case in order to resolve the legal question of what constituted loss or damage.

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Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024

A worker at the Ocean Casino resort in Atlantic City, N.J., installs a protective panel at a check-in area on June 3, 2020, about a month before it reopened during the early days of the COVID19 pandemic. On Jan. 24, 2024, the New Jersey Supreme Court rejected an attempt by the casino to collect on a business interruption policy for the 3 1/2 months it was closed due to the pandemic. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

Class-action lawsuit approved over COVID-19 outbreaks in Quebec long-term care

Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Class-action lawsuit approved over COVID-19 outbreaks in Quebec long-term care

Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024

MONTREAL - A judge has approved a class-action lawsuit that accuses Quebec's health network of failing to protect long-term care centres during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and causing avoidable suffering and death to thousands of residents.

The province's response to the first two waves of COVID-19 was improvised, and health network officials ignored a pre-existing pandemic plan until it was too late, claims the lawsuit authorized by Superior Court Justice Donald Bisson.

Patrick Martin-Ménard, the lawyer representing members of the class action, said the Quebec government had "all the tools available" to protect the most vulnerable but failed to do so.

"We didn't know about COVID at that time, but we had enough information to know what kind of threat we were exposed to with a pandemic, and there even was a plan in place to face it," Martin-Ménard told a news conference Tuesday.

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Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024

Flowers are shown outside Maison Herron, a long-term care home in the Montreal suburb of Dorval on April 12, 2020. A Quebec Superior Court judge has authorized a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all residents of public long-term care homes that experienced major COVID-19 outbreaks during the pandemic’s first year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

St. John’s coach Rick Pitino is sidelined by COVID-19 for game against Seton Hall

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

St. John’s coach Rick Pitino is sidelined by COVID-19 for game against Seton Hall

The Associated Press 2 minute read Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — St. John’s coach Rick Pitino is recovering from COVID-19 and will miss his team's game against Seton Hall on Tuesday night, the school announced.

Pitino's absence was announced about three hours before tipoff. Associate coach Steve Masiello will serve as the Red Storm’s acting coach against the first-place Pirates (12-5, 5-1 Big East) and will handle media responsibilities.

The 71-year-old Pitino is in his first season at St. John's (12-5, 4-2). One of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division I history, he was hired March 20 after spending three seasons at Iona.

During his 35 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Pitino has made 23 NCAA Tournament appearances with five different schools and advanced to the Final Four seven times, a total reached by only six coaches all-time.

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Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024

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