A new study in the United States reveals that nearly 25% of COVID-19 patients experienced new health problems well after their initial diagnosis. The non-profit group FAIR Health analyzed the health insurance claims of nearly two million people between February 2020 and February of this year. The study found the most common new conditions among so-called “Long COVID” patients included pain, breathing difficulties, high blood pressure, high levels of cholesterol and fatigue. The new ailments affected patients of all ages, including children, and even included patients who were asymptomatic, or experienced no symptoms whatsoever. The study found 19% of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients came down with Long COVID symptoms, increasing to 27% who had mild or moderate symptoms but were not hospitalized, and 50% of those who were hospitalized. Other ailments revealed in the study included intestinal symptoms, heart disorders and mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. … [Read more...]

Pennsylvania’s Senate on Thursday voted to end Gov. Tom Wolf Tom Wolf Pennsylvania ends COVID-19 emergency declaration Pennsylvania Senate votes to end governor's emergency declaration for COVID-19 Governors can protect civil liberties, too MORE ’s (D) COVID-19 emergency declaration, following a move earlier this week by the state House. Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled legislature also ended Wolf’s ability to close businesses, implement occupancy requirements or initiate stay-at-home orders. At the same time, the Senate passed legislation that extends waiver protections initially put into effect during the COVID-19 pandemic to hold until Sept. 30. ADVERTISEMENT The move to end the governor’s emergency declaration comes only a month after a majority of Pennsylvanians voted in favor of two ballot constitutional amendments that would curb the governor's pandemic response. “Today we delivered on our promise to the citizens of Pennsylvania … [Read more...]

SYDNEY - Researchers in New Zealand are testing new techniques to find out whether masks and gowns used by health workers as protection against COVID-19 can be decontaminated and safely used again. Researchers want to reduce the “mountain” of personal protective equipment, or PPE, that is discarded around the world daily. According to experts in New Zealand, estimates indicate that in China alone, hundreds of thousands of metric tons of PPE are going to the landfill each day. Mark Staiger is an associate professor of materials engineering at the University of Canterbury. “The amount of waste that is being produced by the pandemic is absolutely huge. It has been estimated that something like 3 million face masks are being used per minute around the world. Other studies have shown that something like 3.5 billion face masks and face shields are being discarded globally every day,” he said. Masks and gowns contain plastics that cannot easily be recycled. Researchers from … [Read more...]

MIAMI (CBSMiami/CNN) — The sale of Girl Scout cookies across South Florida and the rest of the nation crumbled as the organization faces 15 million unsold boxes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s exceedingly rare to have significant excess inventory but the pandemic greatly impacted our cookie program, despite demand for cookies remaining strong,” Girl Scouts said. READ MORE: Deadly Crash On Turnpike Extension Snarled Rush Hour Traffic The Girl Scouts usually make around $800 million each year selling 200 million boxes of cookies. It won’t say how many cookie boxes were sold this year. But 15 million boxes remain at local councils or at the two bakers authorized to make them. Those councils and bakers are trying to sell or donate boxes that are left. READ MORE: Miami-Dade County Commissioners Vote Unanimously To Designate Miami Street As Dwayne Wade Boulevard Girl Scouts of the USA said that 100% of the proceeds from each and every cookie purchase “stay local with the … [Read more...]

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) — Maryland reported 78 new COVID-19 cases and six more deaths Wednesday as hospitalizations dropped after two days of slight increases. More than 3.2 million Maryland adults are fully vaccinated. State officials also reported that the state positivity rate went down to 0.78% READ MORE: Annapolis Woman Claims $40,000 VaxCash Prize Hospitalizations went down by 27 cases, now at 167 people hospitalized for the virus. Of those hospitalized, 122 are in acute care and 45 are in the ICU. Since the pandemic began, there were 461,470 total confirmed cases and 9,478 deaths. There are 3,198,788 Marylanders fully vaccinated. The state has administered 6,556,386 doses. Of those, 3,357,598 are first doses with 8,119 administered in the past 24 hours. They have given out 2,948,986 second doses, 18,339 in the last day. The state began to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine again in April, after the CDC and FDA lifted their pause on the vaccine due to a rare … [Read more...]

Pennsylvania ended its COVID-19 emergency declaration on Tuesday after Gov. Tom Wolf Tom Wolf Pennsylvania ends COVID-19 emergency declaration Pennsylvania Senate votes to end governor's emergency declaration for COVID-19 Governors can protect civil liberties, too MORE ’s (D) administration certified election results from May that took away his power to uphold it. Pennsylvania voted in a May primary to take away some of Wolf’s authority over to his strict pandemic response, giving the decision to end the emergency declaration to the state’s legislature. The Republican-led House and Senate voted last week to end the governor’s emergency declaration. ADVERTISEMENT The declaration formally ended with the certification of the election results on Tuesday, a cting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid’s agency said, The Associated Press reported . The state had already lifted many of its pandemic restrictions such as capacity … [Read more...]

LONDON (AP) — Britain will require COVID-19 vaccinations for nursing home workers in England, arguing that the need to protect vulnerable residents outweighed employees' right to choose whether to get the jab. Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the new rules Wednesday together with plans for a public consultation on extending the vaccine requirement to National Health Service workers. He described the vaccination mandate as a sensible step to save lives. “The vast majority of staff in care homes are already vaccinated but not all, and we know that the vaccine not only protects you but protects those around you,'' he told the House of Commons. “Therefore we will be taking forward the measures to ensure the mandation as a condition of deployment for staff in care homes.'' The regulations, pending parliamentary approval, take effect in October. The announcement came as lawmakers were asked to approve the Conservative government's plan to postpone the final easing of the … [Read more...]

With jobs rebounding and isolation-weary Americans opening the spending spigots, the economy seems well on its way back from the costly setbacks during the Pandemic. There may be some long-term economic casualties — small businesses that shuttered permanently, maybe commercial real estate — but the outlook is a return to the pre-COVID situation in a year or so. Much more worrisome is recovering from the catastrophic social costs: young kids missing a full year of school; a sharp rise in drug overdoses; horrendous stories of spousal and child abuse. All these disproportionately hurt poorer families. ADVERTISEMENT The only way to alleviate the long-term consequences will require more resources from the federal, state and local governments. The scars are so deep it can't be done on the cheap. The missed in-person school time, especially for young children, will have an “ absolutely stunningly large economic cost that just keeps piling up ” predicts Eric Hanushek, a … [Read more...]

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has lifted the mask mandate and will allow businesses to operate at full capacity following a nearly year-long set of rules put in place by the state to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Reeves’ remarks on the matter were made during a briefing on Tuesday where he announced the new executive order that would replace the expiring one at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. “Today, I signed what I expect will be one of my last executive orders regarding COVID-19. Our hospitalizations have plummeted, and our case numbers have fallen dramatically as well,” Reeves said . “In fact, our case numbers have fallen to the point where no county meets the original criteria for a mask mandate.” Reeves also told residents of the state to continue wearing masks if they would like to and urged them to listen to health officials in the state, referring to their insight as “valuable” going forward. Reeves said: Everyone should continue to listen to [Thomas] Dobbs and other … [Read more...]

(CNN) The wonders of spaceflight never ceased in 2020, despite the pandemic's best efforts. Four launches -- including two historic missions from US soil -- to the International Space Station carried on as planned, and the crews were able to remain safe on their journeys to and from Earth. Quarantine has become the new normal for many over the last year, but it has long been part of the routine for astronauts launching to space. "NASA's had a robust quarantine plan for a long time," said Robert Mulcahy, flight surgeon for the Health Stabilization Program at Johnson Space Center in Houston. "It's nothing new for us. NASA implemented a prelaunch quarantine starting with the Apollo 14 mission (in 1971) because we saw some infectious disease occurrences in flight or in the preflight period for some of the earlier Apollo launches." Some of the Apollo astronauts experienced upper respiratory tract infections and gastroenteritis, so a preflight quarantine was put in place. While the … [Read more...]