omicron variant

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Lab Gives Incorrect COVID Results to Hundreds

Massive mix-up in Australia included 400 people who actually tested positive

(Newser) - A pathology service in Sydney, Australia, had to scramble to correct a major error over the holiday weekend after telling 400 people who had tested positive for COVID that their tests were negative. Almost a thousand more people were told their tests were negative when in fact the results weren’...

Staff Shortages Add to Flight Cancellations
Omicron Adds 
Flight Cancellations
Dec 26, 2021 1:40 PM CST

Omicron Adds Flight Cancellations

Airlines say they're short-staffed because of the variant's surge

(Newser) - Airlines canceled hundreds more flights Sunday, citing staffing problems tied to COVID-19, as the nation's travel woes extended beyond Christmas, with no clear indication when normal schedules would resume. More than 700 flights entering, leaving, or flying within the US were called off, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware....

Belgian Acts Protest Cultural Shutdown
Belgians Protest
Cultural Shutdown 
Dec 26, 2021 11:40 AM CST

Belgians Protest Cultural Shutdown

New pandemic restrictions began Sunday

(Newser) - Thousands of Belgian performers, cinema operators, event organizers, and others joined together Sunday to protest the government's decision to close down the country's cultural life to stem the spread of the surging omicron variant. Waving posters reading "The show must go on" or "No culture, no...

Third Florida-Based Cruise Sees COVID Outbreak

Carnival Freedom denied entry to Aruba and Bonaire

(Newser) - For the third time in recent days, a COVID outbreak has been reported on a cruise ship that set sail from Florida, where health officials have reported the highest cases in a single day since the start of the pandemic in 2020. Per CNN , the Carnival Freedom was denied entry...

Children&#39;s Hospitals Admit 800 Per Day
Children's
Hospitals
Fill Up
Dec 24, 2021 4:45 PM CST

Children's Hospitals Fill Up

Number of pediatric COVID patients has risen 13% in 10 days

(Newser) - Children largely escaped illness during last winter's COVID-19 surge. Not this time. In many parts of the nation, pediatric hospitals already are dealing with a surge in admissions, now that the omicron variant has arrived before their delta patients have recovered and gone home, the Washington Post reports. And...

White House Is Lifting Travel Curbs on 8 African Countries

Feds say restrictions bought time to better understand omicron variant

(Newser) - With omicron now by far the dominant COVID variant in the US, authorities apparently don't see much point in continuing to ban travelers from southern Africa, where the variant was first detected last month. The White House confirmed Friday that the ban on non-US citizens who had been in...

Thanks, Omicron: Hundreds of Christmas Eve Flights Canceled

United, Delta, and Alaska are canceling flights

(Newser) - Not exactly what holiday travelers want to hear the day before Christmas Eve: Three airlines announced Thursday they were canceling flights for the following day due to the omicron variant of COVID-19. United Airlines canceled more than 150 flights, saying "the nationwide spike in omicron cases this week has...

Israel Debates 4th Shot
Israeli Experts Back 4th Dose
Dec 23, 2021 3:35 PM CST

Israeli Experts Back 4th Dose

Advisory panel recommends the move, but other experts want to wait for data

(Newser) - The evidence that it would help is not overwhelming, but Israel nevertheless is considering approving a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine after receiving an expert panel's recommendation. Israel has moved quickly on getting its population vaccinated and was an early adopter on third doses of vaccine. With the omicron...

Findings in 3 Countries: Omicron Appears Milder

Risk of hospitalization reduced compared to earlier variants, largely due to immunity

(Newser) - Three studies on populations in South Africa, Scotland, and England indicate the omicron coronavirus variant generally results in milder disease than with previous variants, and is less likely to send people to the hospital. It's reassuring news as omicron is now the dominant variant in many parts of the...

Bill Gates: 'Worst Part of the Pandemic' Could Lie Ahead

He says he's canceled Christmas plans because of the omicron variant

(Newser) - Bill Gates says he's taking the rise of the omicron variant extremely seriously and has canceled most of his holiday plans. In a series of tweets Tuesday night, the Microsoft co-founder warned that omicron is now "spreading faster than any virus in history," CNN reports. "Just...

Out of South Africa, a 'Tantalizing Hint' on Omicron

Case count is dropping, at least in recent days

(Newser) - A new study out of South Africa offers some positive news on the omicron variant, but with an asterisk. The study, which appeared Tuesday in the preprint medical publication MedRxiv , found that South Africans who came down with the omicron variant were 80% less likely to be hospitalized compared to...

Trump 'Surprised,' 'Very Appreciative' of Biden's Comments

Former POTUS says he appreciates current president's praise

(Newser) - Update: The former president and the current president traded unusually pleasant words Tuesday. After President Biden, in his address to the nation regarding COVID, praised "the prior administration" for its work getting vaccines available in the US so quickly, former President Trump told Fox News he was "surprised"...

Antibody Treatments Aren't Working Against Omicron

Antiviral drugs appear to still be effective

(Newser) - In yet more bad news about the omicron variant of COVID-19, hospitals have found that two of the three monoclonal antibody treatments that have been keeping serious disease at bay for many coronavirus patients do not appear to work against this variant. The one that still does is, not surprisingly,...

Health Care Workers Must Get Booster Shots in This State

California Gov. Gavin Newsom makes the announcement on Twitter

(Newser) - California health care workers will be required to have coronavirus booster shots to ensure that hospitals are ready to deal with a surge in cases as the more-transmissible omicron variant spreads throughout the state, the AP reports. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the order Tuesday on his personal Twitter account and...

Biden to Announce 500M Free COVID Tests

They're to be delivered by mail to Americans who request them: officials

(Newser) - President Biden will reportedly announce the purchase of half a billion at-home rapid COVID-19 tests, which are to be delivered for free to Americans who request them, in a nationwide speech Tuesday amid soaring cases of the omicron variant. An administration official said Americans will be able to request tests,...

CDC: Omicron Is Now the Dominant Variant

'All of us have a date with omicron'

(Newser) - Less than a month after it was first detected in southern Africa—and less than three weeks after the first US case was confirmed —the omicron variant is now the dominant COVID strain in the US, authorities say. Federal officials said Monday that according to Centers for Disease Control...

Ohio Hospitals' One-Word Plea on COVID: 'Help'

Medical centers in Cleveland area, Minnesota beg people to get vaxxed in major newspaper ads

(Newser) - One word dominates a full-page advertisement that appeared in Sunday's Plain Dealer, Ohio's biggest newspaper. "Help," reads the bold-font plea, surrounded by white space, smack in the middle of the ad placed by the heads of six of the Cleveland area's medical facilities to try...

Good News on Moderna Booster
Good
News on
Moderna
Booster
Dec 20, 2021 8:33 AM CST

Good News on Moderna Booster

Early lab results suggests third shot provides significant protection against omicron

(Newser) - Lab results from Moderna add to health officials' chorus on omicron: Get a booster. The company said Monday that preliminary results suggests a third shot of its vaccine provides significant protection against the new variant. The usual half-dose booster raised antibody levels 37-fold, while a full-dose booster—typically given to...

Early Data Doesn't Back Hope That Omicron Will Be Milder

There's plenty of caution that it's too early to draw conclusions

(Newser) - UK researchers say they see no indication that omicron will be milder than the delta variant of the coronavirus. In fact, they found the new strain's reinfection rate to be more than five times as high as delta's, Reuters reports. The Imperial College London study, which has not...

SNL Scales Back Tonight&#39;s Show
Tonight's SNL
Drops Audience
Dec 18, 2021 4:30 PM CST

Tonight's SNL Drops Audience

Omicron is behind decision to scale back show

(Newser) - Hours before showtime, Saturday Night Live announced that its final show of the year will have no audience in its New York studio and a reduced cast and crew. A statement posted on social media attributed the decision to the surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the omicron variant, per...

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