By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A man lost his job as a jail deputy in Portland, Oregon, and will be on probation for six months for stealing blank vaccination cards for use by himself and his family. The Multnomah County District Attorney and Sheriff Mike Reese said Robert Haney pleaded guilty
Continue ReadingBy Kevin Liptak, Nikki Carvajal, Jeremy Diamond and Maegan Vazquez, CNN President Joe Biden aimed to reassure vaccinated Americans that they can still proceed with their holiday plans without fear of becoming seriously ill, announcing a number of new efforts to combat a surge of Covid-19 cases in the United States. “I know some Americans
Continue ReadingBy Nikki Carvajal President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he is “considering” whether to lift the US’ travel ban on South Africa and seven other southern African countries that was put in place as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus began to spread. The ban has come under increasing scrutiny as the strain is already
Continue ReadingPORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Intel has told workers that unvaccinated people who don’t get an exemption for religious or medical reasons will be on unpaid leave beginning in April. The California-based semiconductor company told employees last month they had a Jan. 4 deadline to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or seek an exemption, citing a government
Continue ReadingBy KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho is among 27 states asking the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency stay to prevent President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for larger private employers from taking effect. The request for the emergency stay filed Monday follows a decision Friday by the 6th U.S. Circuit
Continue ReadingBy Travis Caldwell and Claire Colbert, CNN The Omicron Covid-19 variant is now the most dominant strain in the US, accounting for over 73% of new coronavirus cases less than three weeks after the first was reported, according to estimates posted Monday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s been just 20
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There were three newly reported COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon over the weekend, raising the state’s death toll to 5,534, the Oregon Health Authority reported Monday.
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EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — As the highly transmissible omicron variant spreads across the country, University of Oregon students, faculty and staff will be required to get a COVID-19 booster shot as soon as they are eligible. That’s according to an announcement Monday by school officials. Currently the university and the state’s six other public universities
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Deschutes County Health Services encourages residents to incorporate COVID precautions into holiday planning:
Continue ReadingBy Dan Merica, CNN Former President Donald Trump was booed by a portion of an audience in Dallas on Sunday when he said he had received a Covid-19 booster shot, according to video of the closed press event that was shared on social media. The comments by Trump — who, despite championing his administration’s efforts
Continue ReadingBy Kathryn Vasel, CNN Business This year didn’t go as planned for employers. With the introduction of vaccines in late 2020, many were hoping for a return to something resembling normalcy in 2021. But instead they grappled with delayed re-openings, vaccine mandates and mask guidance, employee safety and hiring and retention struggles as the pandemic
Continue ReadingBy Jacqueline Howard, CNN Biotechnology company Moderna announced Monday that preliminary data suggests its half-dose booster shot increased antibody levels against the Omicron coronavirus variant — and a larger-sized dose of the booster increases antibody levels even more. Currently, Moderna’s booster is administered as a 50-microgram dose. The company announcement noted that this dose increased
Continue ReadingCNN By Travis Caldwell, CNN With the Delta and Omicron coronavirus variants spreading across the nation as the new year approaches, health experts are urging Americans to get vaccinated or boosted to protect themselves and others before they face greater chances of infection. Airport travel before Christmas is up by nearly double from a year
Continue ReadingBy Steve Almasy and Homero De la Fuente, CNN Covid-19 has become the main opponent of several professional leagues and university sports programs as teams are forced to change their game plan in the face of positive tests or coronavirus exposure. The cancellations and postponements are the latest disruption in the US due to the
Continue ReadingCNN By Deidre McPhillips, CNN Covid-19 claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the United States in 2020, driving a record increase in the death rate and a drop in life expectancy of nearly two years, according to final 2020 death data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health
Continue ReadingBy Greg Clary, CNN Three Democratic members of Congress announced Sunday that they have breakthrough coronavirus infections. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey as well as Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado shared that they had tested positive for Covid-19 via tweets from their official accounts. They all reported having received
Continue ReadingCNN By Sarah Fortinsky and Amir Vera, CNN Despite a rise in Covid-19 cases and new restrictions emerging across the country, travelers at US airports do not appear to be deterred from following through on their vacation plans. More than 2 million people were screened at US airports December 16, 17 and 18, according to
Continue ReadingCNN By Dakin Andone and Susannah Cullinane, CNN The United States is likely in for a hard winter as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 spreads rapidly, Dr. Anthony Fauci says, straining a health care system already battered by the Delta variant. “It’s going to take over,” Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said of
Continue ReadingBy Kay Jones, CNN A Washington state senator has died a month after confirming with a local radio station he was in El Salvador and sick with Covid-19. State Sen. Doug Ericksen’s family announced his death through a statement issued Saturday by the Washington State Senate Republican Caucus, but they did not state the cause
Continue ReadingBy Kaitlan Collins and Jeff Zeleny, CNN President Joe Biden will give an Omicron variant-focused speech on Tuesday as the nation contends with higher case numbers, deaths and hospitalizations from the coronavirus heading into the holidays. “Building off his Winter Plan, @POTUS will announce new steps the Administration is taking to help communities in need
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