Congressman Trone was the latest local leader to test positive for the virus, following reports that Representative Dutch Ruppersberger tested positive on Jan 11.
Maryland Representative David Trone said he has tested positive for COVID-19 but has only experienced mild symptoms.
In a statement on Saturday, Trone said that he planned to vote by proxy the following week and will continue to isolate and recover at home. Trone also said hes fully vaccinated and boosted and encourages others to get vaccinated.
The Maryland Democrats announcement followed the completion of a telephone workshop on stopping the spread of COVID-19 and reports of hospitals moving to crisis standards of care.
Congressman Trone was the latest local leader to test positive for the virus, following reports that Representative Dutch Ruppersberger tested positive on Jan 11.
At the time, Ruppersberger acknowledged that [he was having mild/severe/no symptoms]
Other local leaders have caught the virus as the omicron variants projected peak has continued to swing across the state. That list included Governor Larry Hogan, Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich.
Trone represents all of Garrett, Allegany and Washington counties and portions of Montgomery and Frederick counties.
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Updated at 3:20 p.m.
Two private COVID-19 testing companies have been ordered to stop testing by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
A CDPHE investigation found that the Center for COVID Control and Macagain Corp., which operate a combined 11 testing sites in Colorado, have failed to report test results and cases to the state, according to a statement released by Weisers office.
Both companies received cease and desist letters from the state on Jan. 14.
The same investigation found that locations operated by the Illinois-based Center for COVID Control failed to be properly certified and licensed by the federal government to do COVID testing.
Our consumer protection section also has received a significant number of complaints about safety conditions at their testing sites, including concerns about the appropriate use of personal protective equipment. By violating these licensing requirements and ignoring health and safety protocols, the Center for COVID Control is putting Coloradans at risk and were taking action to protect public health, Weiser said in the statement.
NBC News reports that the Center for COVID Control operates about 300 pop-up testing sites around the country and is under investigation in Illinois and Oregon. Rhode Island and Massachusetts have also issued cease and desist letters for its sites there. And its sites in California and Washington have been shut down for not being licensed.
The Center for COVID Control said it would not offer interviews when asked to respond to the Attorney Generals cease and desist letters. The company instead referenced a press release from Jan. 13 on its site, which said CCC was temporarily pausing testing at its sites across the country until Jan. 22, citing a strain on its staff due to the spreading omicron variant.
CCC will use this operational pause for additional staff training in sample collection and handling, a refocus on customer service and communication practices, and ensure compliance with regulatory guidelines, the statement said.
The statement was posted days after a USA Today Jan. 5 report about numerous complaints lodged against the Center for COVID Control across several states and after Oregon officials confirmed they were investigating the company.
MacAgain could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
The Center for COVID Control operates the following locations:
6460 E Yale Ave Denver 80222
4775 S Broadway Englewood 80113
1750 Blake St. Denver 80202
And Macagain Corp. operates testing sites at these locations:
1546 28th St, Boulder 80303
3250 W 72nd St, Westminster 80030
155 Cook St, Denver 80206
620 Miller Ct, Lakewood 80215
1700 S College Ave. Fort Collins 80525
6830 S Yosemite Ct, Centennial 80112
3629 Betty Dr. Colorado Springs 80917
2910 Wood Ave, Colorado Springs 80907
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a response from the Center for COVID Control and details on the cease and desist letters.
More than two years into the pandemic, misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccines that protect against it continues to spread.
Much of this misinformation focuses on the safety of the vaccines and potential risks associated with them.
Headlines falsely claiming the vaccines have caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries remain rampant on social media and other online sources.
Family medicine physician Dr. Laura Morris, hears these concerns often from her patients.
Ive had patients say out loud that youre more likely to die from the vaccine than you are from COVID, and so theres clearly a lot of intentional, false information thats out there on social media platforms, and the places where people do their quote research,' she said.
Morris, whos also the co-chair of the University of Missouri Health Care vaccine committee, engages with these patients and points them to reputable sources of information to assure them that the vaccine is safe and that in fact, the risk of dying from COVID-19 is exponentially higher.
The deaths that can be tied to an adverse reaction from the vaccine are exceedingly rare, she said. You are, however, more likely to die of COVID this year and last year than almost anything else.
Vaccine misinformation distributed across social media and other sites comes from a number of sources, many of which are not credible and blatantly false. However, as is often the case with misinformation, some claims gain traction because they begin with a kernel of truth.
Many sources of false information will often cite the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
VAERS was established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1990 as an early warning system to detect potential safety issues with vaccines. It allows anyone to report adverse effects experienced after receiving any vaccine, including the COVID-19 vaccines.
According to VAERS, more than 520 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines were administered in the United States from December 14, 2020 through January 10, 2022. During this time, VAERS received 11,225 reports of death (0.0022%) among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine.
However, this does not mean the vaccine caused these deaths.
VAERS is unique in that its a system that accepts reports from anyone, Morris said. It can be a doctor or a hospital or a health department that reports a death that is timed after a vaccine, or it can be a patient or a family member of someone who had an adverse reaction or just had a reaction.
So it can be that deaths are reported that are completely unrelated, she continued. Deaths can also be reported that are actually false or that are clearly unrelated, but are reported based on timing or even based on malicious intent.
Therefore, these statistics offer no insight into the actual cause of death in these cases.
The death of a 90-year-old nursing patient a few days after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, for example, would be reported to VAERS. However, there are a number of other causes this person could have died from.
So the reports initially are correlation, not causation, Morris said.
Scientists investigate and pore through every individual report of death to verify the true cause.
To date, the CDC has verified nine deaths causally associated with the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. These deaths are attributed to thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), which causes blood clots in large blood vessels and low platelets.
So what I tell my patients is that youre more likely to die from being struck by lightning than you are to die from an adverse reaction to this vaccine, Morris said.
According to the National Weather Service, 17 people died by lightning strikes in the United States in 2020.
Because of the nine deaths associated with the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC recommended in December 2021 that Americans choose the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) over Johnson & Johnson.
As of January 6, 2022, the CDC and FDA have identified 57 confirmed reports of people who received the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine and later developed TTS.
More than 17.7 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered in the United States.
This is exceedingly rare, and I would still say that there is benefit to that vaccine, but with our supply in the United States, in particular being what it is, there are safer options, Morris said.
As with any vaccine, there are risks associated with the COVID-19 vaccines that are real. However, they are rare.
One adverse effect that has garnered much attention is the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis following the administration of an mRNA vaccine.
Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle; pericarditis is inflammation of the outer lining of the heart.
Its actually the immune systems reaction to the vaccine, Morris explained. It causes a little bit of inflammation throughout the body, and in some cases that can be misdirected toward the heart muscle.
To date, the CDC and FDA have verified 1,175 reports of myocarditis or pericarditis after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA vaccines.
Symptoms of myocarditis include chest pain, irregular heartbeat, and shortness of breath. Young people seem to be most at risk.
Most of the cases that are reported are patients under the age of 30, Morris said. It happens more often in males, although it can happen in females, as well. Its usually after the second dose of vaccine, and happens within a couple of weeks.
However, she notes that in these instances, myocarditis usually resolved within a couple of weeks.
Myocarditis could be something thats really mild or temporary, and its something thats definitely treatable, said Dr. Nicolas Hernandez, a family medicine physician with Northwell Plainview Hospital in Long Island, New York.
Additionally, its important to note that myocarditis can result from any viral infection, including COVID-19.
The risk of getting myocarditis after having [COVID] is actually several times higher than the risk of myocarditis after a COVID vaccine, Morris explained. Given what we know right now about the prevalence and the spread of COVID-19 in our community, that risk is not something that should keep you from getting the vaccine.
According to CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the risk of myocarditis from COVID-19 is 6 to 34 times higher than the risk from an mRNA vaccine.
Additionally, as with any vaccine, theres the risk of anaphylaxis (a severe allergic reaction). According to the CDC, anaphylaxis after COVID-19 vaccination is rare and has occurred in approximately 5 people per 1 million people vaccinated in the United States.
Anaphylaxis is also something thats treatable.
We could always treat it with an epinephrine pen or get additional supportive treatment for you, Hernandez said.
The bottom line, experts say, is that there are always some risks associated with any vaccine, but the benefits far outweigh those risks.
Ive always called COVID kind of like a Russian roulette, Hernandez said. You dont know what the virus is going to do to you when you have it. Theres long COVID, and we know that COVID can cause a lot of multi-system effects to your body that may or may not be irreversible. But we have the vaccine. You have a way of protecting yourself in front of this deadly virus.
Finally, Morris said she hopes that rather than focusing on the number of deaths the vaccine has caused, there will be more focus on the number of deaths that the vaccine has actually prevented.
Nine deaths is significant, she said. Every single death is significant, however, we are going to approach a million Americans dying of COVID-19 sometime probably in the coming year. But we have prevented hundreds of thousands of additional deaths from happening with the vaccine.
COVID-19 can cause a vast number of symptoms with fever, cough and fatigue among those most often reported.
But less common symptoms, such as dizziness, are also important to be aware of.
"Countless studies" from various parts of the world have revealed that dizziness has occurred as the result of COVID infections, according to an article published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health.
The doctors who authored the article say the findings aren't surprising as dizziness has historically been associated with viral infections.
"We would like to emphasize that dizziness should not be taken lightly as it has been proven to be a notable clinical manifestation among COVID-19 patients," the authors said.
"...It it is imperative that attending physicians remain vigilant, especially when managing nonspecific symptoms such as dizziness, as it can be easily overlooked," they continued.
Not just COVID-19, but other respiratory conditions can also lead to dizziness, according to Dr. Christine Greiss, director of the Concussion Program at the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute.
Such conditions can cause swelling in the sinuses and ears and in turn result in dizziness, she stated.
If an ear infection develops or the Eustachian tube that connects the ears with the back of the throat becomes blocked, it can cause feelings of dizziness, Greiss explained.
Here's a list of other possible symptoms COVID patients may experience:
Less than half of Wasco's residents are fully vaccinated, according to organizers of the Wasco Vaccine Clinic that will take place Sunday.
The number one priority is for us to tackle those vaccination numbers, Wasco city councilmember, Alex Garcia told 23ABC. Wasco is really hovering and falling behind on that county and state average. We want to catch up and do what we can to provide those resources close to where these residents live.
Hosted by the United Against COVID-19 (a coalition of local organizations such as All of Us or None, Building Healthy Communities Kern, Dolores Huerta Foundation, Lideres Campesinas, South Kern Sol, Unidad Popular Benito Juarez, and Vision y Compromiso) and in partnership with the City of Wasco, this clinic at the Old Court House in Wasco has many pandemic-related resources: free COVID-19 testing, vaccines, boosters, and even N-95 masks. All vaccine options are available: Pfizer, Moderna, J&J, and the booster, according to Garcia. Cap-K has even donated over 200 food boxes for those in need. Rental and utility assistance will be provided as well, according to Garcia.
23ABC Team
Its the same issues rural communities face all over: access to these resources, Garcia said. Wasco is thirty minutes from Bakersfield, the city center of Kern, so we really wanted to provide these resources right here, right up the street from their homes so that they dont have to have those obstacles of getting access to these resources."
No appointment is needed or proof of insurance. If youre trying to get a second dose of your vaccine, or the booster, bring your vaccine card with you. The clinic will be held this Sunday from 12:00-5:00 p.m. at the following address:
810 8th StreetWasco, CA 93280
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Theres a little list of things that Richmond, Texas, mom Vanessa Lui promised her daughter Zoe they could do after the third grader got her COVID-19 vaccine.
A visit to Barnes & Noble. An afternoon at the local museum.
Going back to school in person is also on the list, but schoolwork isnt really what Zoe misses after attending school entirely online for the past year and a half.
Ive only been missing my friends, because I dont really like to do work, its sort of annoying, the 8-year-old told The Texas Tribune in an interview. Sometimes we played at recess, and we went down the slide.
Thats why, in November, she was among the first Texas children in her age group to roll up her sleeve and get inoculated against COVID-19, appearing with her mom, her aunt and her cousin at the Texas Childrens Hospital in Houston after the federal government approved the Pfizer shot for kids ages 5-11.
Since then, 693,345 Texas elementary-age children have received at least one dose of the vaccine, accounting for about 24% of the states 2.9 million children ages 5-11 and a figure in line with the national rate. Nearly 390,000 of the 5-11 group are fully vaccinated, while more than half of Texans ages 12-15 are fully vaccinated.
Texas child vaccination rate is higher than in many other Southern states, where rates as low as 10% are being recorded. In the first two weeks after the shot was approved for emergency use in the younger age group, some 100,000 children showed up to Texas school clinics, pharmacies and pediatricians offices to get inoculated.
Zoe was among them.
As a family, we were excited, Lui said. We need more parents, rather than less parents, to go first.
But as the omicron variant of COVID-19 drives up cases beyond anything recorded in Texas during the pandemic, Zoe is still waiting to go back to school. She continues to take her classes online as she and her mother wait until staff members stop calling in sick, causing students to switch teachers and classes often.
With omicron raging through the unvaccinated community, children with COVID-19 are turning up in hospitals and pediatricians offices in record numbers.
Some pediatricians have had to close for a few days because most of their staff members were out sick, causing parents to shuffle appointments or seek new family doctors for common winter illnesses such as the flu or other non-COVID infections.
They called us up and said, We have to cancel your appointment today. None of the staff can make it, said Houston communications professional Evan Mintz, who had to reschedule an appointment for his young daughter during the holiday break. It was a one-day delay, and thats not bad in the grand scheme of things. But nevertheless, it was a shock to us. It was affecting us directly.
Frisco pediatrician Seth Kaplan has managed to stay open but had to stop accepting new patients temporarily, he said.
It just got to be overwhelming, he said.
At Texas Childrens Hospital in Houston, positive cases among patients went from zero in early December to some 70 patients with COVID-19 a month later, mostly among unvaccinated children, said Dr. Jim Versalovic, pathologist-in-chief for the hospital. Their hospitalizations of children with COVID-19 broke all previous pandemic records, and at breakneck speed, he said. Just weeks after omicron was first detected in Texas, it was causing more than 90% of new cases showing up at his hospital less than a month after the vaccine was approved for young kids.
We have staggering numbers here during this omicron surge, Versalovic said in a news conference in early January.
That same day, the state broke its own record of children hospitalized with COVID-19, reporting 350 five more than the previous peak a few months before.
On Friday, the state health department released data on 3.8 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Texas in the first two years of the pandemic. Almost 19% of them 722,393 were diagnosed in residents under age 20. The demographics do not include cases reported in 2022.
During the first week of January, the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Education Agency reported that about 26,500 students and 11,800 staff members had been infected with COVID, according to data released Friday.
While the numbers of student cases are nearing levels not seen since the start of school last fall, there are more cases of COVID-19 among staffers than at any other time in the pandemic. The numbers are likely to increase as more districts report their numbers to the state. The current numbers include only about half of all of the states 1,200 districts, and the number of districts reporting any numbers is inconsistent from week to week.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the state reported 471 children in Texas hospitals with COVID-19. Most of them are unvaccinated, hospital officials have said. But there is no state data detailing how many COVID-19 child patients are in Texas pediatric intensive care units.
Versalovic said fewer of his COVID-19 patients in the 5-11 age group are winding up in the intensive care unit, compared with previous surges, because they can be vaccinated.
Children under age 5, who arent yet eligible to be vaccinated, are still going into the ICU at similar rates as in earlier surges, he said. One in 3 of the hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19 at Texas Childrens were under age 5, Versalovic said.
Theyre showing up with serious lung infections, similar to what they might contract with respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, a more common childhood respiratory illness.
Versolavic cautioned against assuming that omicron is less serious for children, even though it appears to be less severe than delta for adults.
It is something that we are going to watch very carefully, he said. We have no firm evidence that the disease is more severe [in children] with omicron than with delta, at this point. But we cannot say that this is milder for children because it is, frankly, early. And we just need some time to continue to follow these children and see.
More ICU beds are available now for all young patients than were free a few months ago, partly because the state is no longer in an unseasonable and simultaneous surge of RSV and influenza, as was seen over the summer, so those patients arent using up as many beds, Versalovic said.
A portion of the hospitalized children in the COVID-19 census tested positive for the virus during routine screening after showing up at the hospital for something else, Versalovic said, but identifying the difference can be complicated when comorbidities are involved.
The state does not require that hospitals report which cases are caused by COVID-19 and which are incidental and not the reason the person is hospitalized.
What I can say is that as were examining the data in real time, its clear that the majority of cases either have COVID-19 as a primary factor or as a significant contributing factor to their hospitalization, he said. That said, of course, were going to need to continue to study this to see if we can get firmer numbers on that.
There are some encouraging notes this time around, Versalovic said.
We have learned plenty during this pandemic, and we are in a much better position this January versus last January with vaccinations, he said.
The possibility that omicron is less severe than its predecessors is keeping children from being vaccinated, as their parents deem it may not be necessary to inoculate their kids right away, said vaccine expert Dr. Peter Hotez, a virologist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Its a notion that is putting children at real risk from long-term complications of COVID-19.
Recent studies from London show that 1 in 7 kids with COVID get long-lasting serious or chronic symptoms, known as long COVID. A more recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pointed to an increased risk of diabetes in infected children.
Parents are not rushing in to vaccinate their younger kids, Hotez said. I think the problem is that the federal government and certainly the state government has not made enough of a case for why kids need to be vaccinated. I think people focus a lot on the low mortality numbers, but the way I look at it is that mortality is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to pediatric illness with COVID.
Zoe Lui, for her part, said she was proud to do what she can, as a youngster, to protect herself and her community. And her mom is proud of her.
I just had that theme, This is your shot, running through my head the whole time she was getting it, Vanessa Lui said. It was sweet. It was really sweet.
Kaplan, the Frisco pediatrician, said that although the vaccination numbers could be higher among kids, he hopes that will improve.
Ive never heard thank you, so much as I have in the past few weeks, he said. They really feel a huge, palpable sense of relief that theyre finally able to do this for their kids.
Mandi Cai contributed to this report.
Disclosure: Texas Childrens Hospital has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Proof of COVID-19 vaccination now required for most indoor public spaces in Boston
Updated: 6:27 PM EST Jan 15, 2022
Hide TranscriptShow Transcript
RULES. REPORTER: STARTING TODAY IT A BOSTON ANYBODY OVER THEGE A OF 12 WILL HAVE TO PROVE THEY HAVE HAD AT LEAST ONE DOSE, AND TODAY AT THE NSEW CONFERENCE THE MAYOR SAID IT IS ALL ABOUT GETTING MORE PEOPLE VACCINAD.TE MEMBERS AT PLANET FITNESS WERE VACCINATION EARLY SATURDAY AS THE CITY WAS WAKING UP TO NEWCO VISUALS RFO PUBLIC -- NEW COVID RUSLE FOR PUBLIC PLACES. >> IF SHOWING THE CART HELPS, NO PROBLEM. >> A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE REAYLL SURPRISED LIKE THEY HAD NO IDEA. REPORTER: AT THE GARDETHERN E WERE TWO MAJOR EVENTS STAINRTG WITH THE BRUINS GAME IN THE CELTICS TONIGHT. MANY FANS WERE READY. >> KIND OF A HSLASE BUT I WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES. >> LIKE A DEBIT CARD NOWADAYS. >> 100% OF OUR TEAM IS CCVAINATED. REPORTER: CHRIS WAS GETTING READY FOR HIS SATURDAY NIGHT DINNER GUESTS. HIS STAFF WILL CHECKOR F VACCINATION STATUS. >> IS NOT LIKE A SOCIAL SECURITY CARD OR LICENSE WHERE WE CAN CHECK IN ID -- AN ID AND SEE IF IT IS VALID. >> I AM NOT SURE WHAT RESTAURANTS HAVE TO BECOME THE FOCAL POINT OF THIS FIGHT, BECAUSE AS WE KNOW AND IS WELL DOCUMENTED RESTAURANTS OPERATE SAFELY. REPORTER: BACK AT THE GARDEN WE D DITNO SEE ANYONE TURNED AWAY FOR LACK OF VACCINATION STATUS. >> IT IS SOMETHING EVERYBODY IS GOING TO HAVE TO GET USED TO IT WE WILHAL VE TO ADJUST TO THE NEW LIFESTYLE. REPOERRT: STARTING FEBRUARY 15 YOU WILL HAVE TO BE ABLE TO PROVE YOU HAVE HAD TWO DOSES AT THE SAME LOCATIONS. ALSO STARTING VACCINAT
Proof of COVID-19 vaccination now required for most indoor public spaces in Boston
Updated: 6:27 PM EST Jan 15, 2022
Starting Saturday, people ages 12 and over will have to prove they've received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Starting Saturday, people ages 12 and over will have to prove they've received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
A passenger walks past a Southwest Airlines plane at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, March 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
I had a caller today who insisted there was a COVID vaccine requirement to fly to Phoenix, said Duane Bannock.
Bannock hosts a daily call-in radio show on KSRM in Kenai. He and his wife love to travel, so we talk often about deals and destinations.
Smart travelers get vaccinated before they fly, I said. But theres no vaccine or testing mandate for domestic flights.
Both Bannock and I had traveled in the last week, and we could confirm that no vaccines or test results were required to board our Alaska Airlines flights.
In fairness to the KSRM caller, regulations are changing all the time. This is particularly true for international travel. Right now, though, the only COVID-19 mitigation requirement is that everyone at an airport or on a plane, bus or train must wear a mask.
Before calling me, Bannock checked the CDC website for domestic travel guidance. In fact, the website plainly states, Delay travel until you are fully vaccinated.
Thats solid advice, especially since the omicron variant is spreading like wildfire. Omicron infections reduced airline crews, forcing them to cancel flights during the holidays. Bad weather was an unwelcome multiplier, causing many to delay or cancel their trips. Also, some travelers had to extend their trips at their own expense until they could get seats rebooked after thousands of flights were canceled.
[28,000 canceled flights later, airlines still looking for upper hand against omicron, weather]
The bad weather has subsided, but omicron is in full bloom. Alaska Airlines canceled 10% of its schedule through January to compensate for crewmembers who call in sick. Also, on flights that do operate, flight attendants are cutting back on meal and beverage service during flights to limit possible COVID-19 exposure from passengers.
More changes are on the way, too. At the end of January, Alaskas free on-site testing facilities at airports will shut down. In Anchorage, free testing will soon be available around the clock at the Alaska Park facilitys indoor site, adjacent to the Coast International Inn. In Juneau, free tests will be available at the Alaska Industrial Hardware store just around the corner from the airport.
The Fairbanks International Airport, photographed on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. (Emily Mesner / ADN)
Because of the rapid pace of omicron infections, countries are changing their entry requirements for visitors. Many towns and cities are changing their COVID-19 mitigation plans, including some communities in Alaska.
Travel to St. Paul Island, in the middle of the Bering Sea, is prohibited unless you fall under the essential worker category. All prospective visitors must fill out a travel form for the city and agree to a testing regimen and a five-day quarantine.
Liz Perry is the head of Travel Juneau, the local visitors bureau. While there are currently few community-wide pandemic restrictions, she said that different businesses have different rules, particularly regarding masks. Were trying to be nice to each other, she said.
Thats important since the Alaska Legislature is gaveling in this coming week. Unlike last year, plans call for the Alaska State Capitol building to be open to visitors who agree to wear masks. Other restrictions may apply.
Alaska Airlines is offering a 20% off coupon code for Alaskans to go to Juneau during the legislative session. The airline last week emailed each Club 49 member a unique code that can be used just once.
Travelers to Hawaii must quarantine for five days on arrival. Vaccinated travelers can bypass the five-day quarantine without testing in advance by uploading proof of vaccination to Hawaiis Safe Travels site. To avoid quarantining on arrival, non-vaccinated travelers must upload the results of a negative COVID test within 72 hours of their Hawaii-bound flight. The test must be administered by a Trusted Testing and Travel Partner.
On the ground in Hawaii, restaurants and bars require you to show your vaccination card (or recent negative test results) to enter. Masks are required indoors.
In Seattle recently, all the restaurants we visited asked to see our vaccination cards. Many other communities are taking a similar path, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., among others.
Even though cases are up, England has eased COVID-19 restrictions for fully vaccinated U.S. travelers. If youve received your shots and your booster, no pre-travel test is required. However, arriving travelers still are required to get tested on or before day two of their visit. And theres no longer a requirement to isolate while waiting for the test results.
Headed to Canada? Its simple: You must be fully vaccinated, having received at least two vaccine shots.
Travelers to the United States show their documents at the check-in desk at Charles de Gaulle airport, north of Paris, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Travelers to France from the U.S. must be fully vaccinated. Additionally, travelers must present proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 48 hours. Tickets to Paris are on sale with Delta for as little as $585 round-trip. Travel between Jan. 28 and April 28.
Cheap tickets (in basic economy) are available for under $600 round-trip to many European destinations from Anchorage, including Barcelona, Rome, Athens, Madrid and Lisbon. Each country has its own COVID-related entry protocols.
If you want to fly to Amsterdam, or travel anywhere in the Netherlands, you must be fully vaccinated. Additionally, travelers must present results of a negative COVID-19 test. Plus, travelers arriving from the U.S. must quarantine for 10 days. You may be eligible to get out of quarantine after five days if you present another negative test.
If youre headed to Mexico, there are no special pre-travel requirements such as tests or vaccines.
Getting to your international destination is one thing. Getting back is another. Travelers returning to the U.S. must have the results of a COVID-19 test taken the day before you travel. Depending on where you are and the availability of tests, this could be expensive. Thats where the quick antigen tests come in handy, since a telehealth appointment is included for verification.
I cannot fault Bannocks caller on KSRM for thinking theres a vaccine mandate on flights within the U.S. Its confusing to sift through the information to find an accurate description of the current requirements.
Both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have world maps that show the travel entry requirements for each country.
Published on January 14, 2022
In conjunction with the San Antonio Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, Metro Health will host a COVID-19 vaccine and testing pop-up clinic from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, January 17 at the Pittman-Sullivan Park, 1213 Iowa St. 78203. No appointment is needed.
Because of the highly contagious Omicron variant, Metro Heath encourages individuals to get vaccinated as soon as possible, and, if you are eligible, get a booster for extra protection. In addition, if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, get tested. If you are sick, stay home.
View vaccine pop-up clinics or testing locations, or call 311 and select option 8.
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed 11 executive actions on his Inauguration Day, including ones banning critical race theory in public education, appointing an entirely new parole board, ending mandates on masks in schools and COVID-19 vaccines for state employees.
But questions remain on whether the new governor has the authority to implement such changes with executive orders, specifically the ban on critical race theory. The new governors orders could also face legal challenges that prevent Youngkin from moving forward.
A release from Youngkins office lays out the first 11 executive actions he signed after being sworn into office on Saturday. Among them are orders that fulfill promises the Republican political newcomer made while on the campaign trail.
The first one signed by Youngkin would end the use of divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory, and to raise academic standards in public education. Critical race theory, an academic framework based on the idea that racism is systemic and is perpetuated in society, was one of the main issues during the heated election cycle.
Despite concerns from parents and Youngkins order to block it, the Virginia Department of Education said repeatedly that critical race theory is not part of the commonwealths K-12 curriculum.
Youngkin also signed an order that rescinds the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for state workers put in place by former Gov. Ralph Northam. The new governor also reversed a rule requiring public and private school students to wear masks, although Northams office said this week that any school board that ends its mask mandate would violate a state law passed last year and could be vulnerable to lawsuits.
State lawmakers disagree on whether that would be the case, with the Republican state senator who sponsored the bipartisan bill saying she would be looking to hear how the new attorney general would interpret the law.
Youngkin also fulfilled a campaign pledge to terminate the states entire parole board and appoint new members to the board. According to the signed order, Youngkin has appointed the following people to the Virginia Parole Board:
The governor signed orders requesting an investigation into issues in Loudoun County schools that caused an uproar during the election and create a Chief Transformation Officer, the release stated. The orders regarding the parole board and Loudoun County schools will allow new Attorney General Jason Miyares to open investigations into scandals that Republicans criticized before the elections.
State investigators found that the parole board violated its own policy and state law by not alerting local prosecutors and victims families before granting parole to incarcerated people, including a man convicted of killing a Richmond police officer decades ago.
Republicans also expressed outrage over a crime reporting law on the campaign trail, many of them, including Youngkin and Miyares, pointing to a case in Loudoun County where a high student was charged with sexually assaulting another student in a bathroom but then was transferred to another school within the district.
The student was convicted for the bathroom assault but not before being charged with sexual battery and abductionafter an investigation into an incident at the other school.
As a candidate, I promised to investigate these scandals and be as open and transparent as possible because Virginians deserve nothing less, Miyares said in a statement after Youngkin signed the orders. As Attorney General, I am proud to say that the process has begun. Investigations by my office into the Parole Board and Loudoun County Public Schools are open.
Miyares added the investigations were not meant to target one member of the board or school district, but would instead focus on learning what mistakes were made so that no other Parole Board or schools ever repeats them.
Youngkin also signed an executive order to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multi-state program aimed to reduce carbon pollution, but its unclear if he has the unilateral authority to back up the pledge he made during his transition without the General Assembly.
