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Nation and World

Grim totals: Nearly 6M dead as 3rd COVID year looms

The official global death toll from COVID-19 is on the verge of eclipsing 6 million — underscoring that the pandemic, now entering its third year, is far from over.

LA County may drop indoor mask order soon

Los Angeles County is set to lift its indoor mask mandate this week as coronavirus case rates and hospitalizations plummet, the county’s top health official said Tuesday.

 
CDC expected to ease mask mandates

The Biden administration will significantly loosen federal mask-wearing guidelines to protect against COVID-19 transmission on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter.

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Queen Elizabeth II positive for COVID with mild symptoms

The palace said the queen, who has been fully vaccinated and had a booster shot, would continue with “light” duties at Windsor Castle over the coming week.

LA County’s indoor mask rule staying, for now

The state’s most populous county is still seeing high transmission of the omicron variant even as the test positivity rate, case numbers and hospitalizations drop.

California to end mask mandate in February

California will lift its indoor masking requirement for vaccinated people next week but masks still are the rule for schoolchildren, state health officials announced Monday.

 
Pfizer asks FDA to allow COVID vaccine for kids under 5

In an extraordinary move, the Food and Drug Administration had urged Pfizer and its partner BioNTech to apply earlier than the companies had planned.

 
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine gets full FDA approval

The decision was bolstered by real-world evidence from the more than 200 million doses administered in the U.S. since the FDA cleared the shot in December 2020.

Biden administration withdraws vaccine mandate for businesses

The Biden administration has officially withdrawn a rule that would have required workers at big companies to get vaccinated or face regular COVID testing requirements.

New Mexico calls in National Guard to sub for sick teachers

New Mexico is the first state in the nation to ask National Guard troops to serve as substitute teachers as preschools and K-12 public schools struggle to keep classrooms open amid surging COVID-19 infections.

California ambulances wait hours with patients at hospitals

Emergency health workers in California on Wednesday blasted hours-long waits to transfer patients from ambulances to hospital emergency rooms in what they said were chronic delays worsened by the nearly two-year coronavirus pandemic.