Breaking News

Two years into pandemic, world takes cautious steps forward

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — With COVID-19 case numbers plummeting, Emily Safrin did something she hadn’t done since the pandemic began two years ago: She put her fears aside and went to a concert. The fully vaccinated and boosted restaurant server planned to keep her mask on, but as the ...

Two years into COVID, was $800B payroll aid plan worth it?

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump rolled out the Paycheck Protection Program to catapult the U.S. economy into a quick recovery from the coronavirus pandemic by helping small businesses stay open and their employees working. President Joe Biden tweaked it to try to direct more of the ...

Ohio high court hears lawsuit over company’s COVID losses

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio business says its insurance company must compensate it for financial losses suffered during a pandemic-related shutdown. The insurance company refused to pay, saying its policy didn’t cover such losses. The Ohio Supreme Court heard arguments from both sides this month. At issue before the court is a policy purchased by Neuro-Communication Services Inc., a northeastern Ohio audiology company, from the Cincinnati Insurance Co. The company was closed from March 23, 2020, until May 4, 2020, when Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine shut down businesses in the early days ...

U.S. vaccination drive is bottoming out as omicron subsides

HAMILTON, Ala. (AP) — A handwritten log kept by nurses tells the story of the losing battle to get more people vaccinated against COVID-19 in this corner of Alabama: Just 14 people showed up at the Marion County Health Department for their initial shot during the first six weeks of the ...

Air Force officers sue over exemption denials

Toledo, Ohio (AP) — A dozen U.S. Air Force officers have filed a lawsuit against the federal government after the military denied their religious exemptions to the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine. The officers, mostly from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, along with a handful of airmen and reservists, accused the Air Force of using a double standard when approving the requests. The Air Force, according to the lawsuit filed last week, had allowed more than 3,000 medical and administrative exemptions but only nine religious exemptions. “The granting of more than ...

More virus rules fall as CDC hints at better times ahead

The nation’s leading health officials said Wednesday that the U.S. is moving closer to the point that COVID-19 is no longer a “constant crisis” as more cities, businesses and sports venues began lifting pandemic restrictions around the country. Centers for Disease Control and ...