COVID 19 Tech

Hospital beds full, National Guard deployed amid crushing delta wave

Enlarge / A nurse in the ICU looks into a COVID patient’s room filled with flowers and balloons at CentraCare St. Cloud Hospital in St. Cloud, Minn., on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. (credit: Getty | The Washington Post) The wave of COVID-19 driven by the hypertransmissible delta variant continues to rampage through the US, with […]

COVID 19 Tech

Early omicron data finds vaccine protection stumbles—but recovers with boosters

Enlarge / Pedestrians walk in front of a COVID-19 vaccination site in Brooklyn, New York, on Nov. 19, 2021. (credit: Xinhua News Agency) The first batch of preliminary laboratory data on the omicron coronavirus variant has come out, and the results are largely what health experts have anticipated: Protective antibodies from two doses of the […]

COVID 19 Tech

Officials trying to contact all 53K anime convention attendees in omicron probe

Enlarge / Costumed attendees take a break during Anime NYC at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City on November 20, 2021. Anime NYC is an annual three-day anime convention held in New York City. (credit: Getty | Ken Betancur) An anime convention held in New York City last month may inadvertently […]

COVID 19 Tech

Omicron suspected in cruise-ship outbreak in New Orleans; 17 cases so far

Enlarge / MARSEILLE, FRANCE – 2020/05/25: The Norwegian Getaway cruise ship arrives in Marseille. (credit: Getty | SOPA images) A Norwegian Cruise Line ship with 3,200 passengers and crew disembarked in New Orleans Sunday amid an onboard COVID-19 outbreak that includes a suspected case of the omicron coronavirus variant. So far, a total of 17 […]

COVID 19 Tech

COVID vaccinations spike in US as delta rages and omicron looms

Enlarge / People line up outside of a free COVID-19 vaccination site that opened today in the Hubbard Place apartment building on December 3, 2021 in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty | Samuel Corum) Amid a raging delta wave and fears of omicron, the United States on Thursday administered 2.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the […]

COVID 19 Tech

The omicron variant is a mystery. Here’s how science will solve it

Enlarge (credit: Remko De Waal | Getty Images) Starting last Friday, the race was on—between a virus and information about it. And for a while, the information moved faster, even though there was hardly any of it. Scientists in South Africa identified a new variant of the virus that causes Covid-19—within days the World Health […]

COVID 19 Tech

2nd US omicron case just traveled to NYC anime convention with 53K attendees

Enlarge / Costumed people attend Anime NYC at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City on November 20, 2021. (credit: Getty | Kena Betancur ) US health officials have identified a second case of the omicron coronavirus variant in a Minnesota man, the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention announced Thursday. Unlike […]

COVID 19 Tech

Moderna plans omicron booster for March as Biden unveils winter COVID plan

Enlarge / US President Joe Biden at the White House on December 01, 2021, in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty | Anna Moneymaker ) President Joe Biden will announce plans today to increase protections against COVID-19 this winter as the delta coronavirus variant continues to ravage the country and the worrisome omicron variant looms. Biden will […]

COVID 19 Tech

Omicron found in US—plus 23 other countries in 5 of 6 global regions

Enlarge / Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical adviser to the particular president, delivers an update on typically the Omicron COVID-19 variant during the daily press briefing at the White House on December 1, 2021 in Washington, DC. The first case of the omicron […]

COVID 19 Tech

US preps vaccine contingencies amid panic over poorly understood omicron

Enlarge / WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 29: Anthony Fauci (R), Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to the President, speaks alongside US President Joe Biden as he delivers remarks on the Omicron COVID-19 variant following a meeting of the COVID-19 response team at the White House. (credit: […]