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White House reveals winter COVID-19 plans, more free tests

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is again making some free COVID-19 tests available to all U.S. households as it unveils its contingency plans for potential coronavirus surges this winter. After a three-month hiatus, the administration is making four rapid virus tests available per household through covidtests.gov starting Thursday. COVID-19 cases have shown a marked…

Hospitalizations signal rising COVID-19 risk for US seniors

By CARLA K. JOHNSON and LAURA UNGAR Associated Press Coronavirus-related hospital admissions are climbing again in the United States, with older adults a growing share of U.S. deaths and less than half of nursing home residents up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations. These alarming signs portend a difficult winter for seniors, which worries 81-year-old nursing…

Congress on track to scrap Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate in defense bill

by Jennifer Shutt, Wisconsin Examiner December 8, 2022 WASHINGTON — Members of the U.S. military would no longer be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine under a proposal Congress could pass as soon as this week.  The provision eliminating the vaccine mandate is tucked into the massive National Defense Authorization Act, the annual defense policy…

Free COVID-19 self-tests available to Wisconsinites

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services encourages Wisconsinites to order free at-home rapid COVID-19 tests and have them delivered directly to their home through the state-supported Say Yes! COVID Test program. All Wisconsin households are eligible to place an order every month for one free test kit that contains five rapid antigen COVID-19 tests on the Say Yes! COVID Test(link…

COVID-19 cases ease slightly, but experts warn of potential winter surge

The spread of COVID-19 has slowly diminished in Wisconsin since Memorial Day, but public health specialists and health care providers are watching for the likelihood of a new increase in the coming weeks. There are already signs that a rise in cases might have begun, although doctors caution that the novel coronavirus’s evolution has been…

Supreme Court to weigh in on whether judge can order ivermectin to treat COVID-19

The Wisconsin Supreme Court will take up a lawsuit that sought to force a hospital to administer ivermectin to a COVID-19 patient. The Court agreed to look at the issue after a state appeals court rejected the demand of a Waukesha County man who wanted a judge to order a hospital to use ivermectin to…

Wisconsin households eligible for free package of COVID-19 self-tests

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) is launching an online program for Wisconsinites to get free at-home rapid COVID-19 tests delivered directly to them. As of this week Wisconsin residents can go to the Say Yes! COVID Test website(link is external) and place an order for a package of five rapid antigen COVID-19 tests…

Workers, employers struggle as Long COVID sidelines thousands of Wisconsinites

By Zhen Wang Wisconsin Watch In November 2020, Danielle Sigler tested approximately 200 residents in a Mount Horeb, Wis. nursing home during a COVID-19 outbreak.  The residents weren’t the only ones Sigler was worried about; 25 of her staff at Ingleside Communities also got infected.  And in the process of testing vulnerable residents, the 36-year-old…

COVID-19 levels and hospitalizations remain high where more than half of state residents live

One-third of Wisconsin counties have high community levels of COVID-19, a federal designation that carries a recommendation for universal masking indoors away from home. Those counties are home to more than half of Wisconsin residents and range from major metropolitan areas to much smaller and lesser-populated parts of the state. The Centers for Disease Control…

In big shift, CDC says children exposed to COVID-19 can stay in class, also ends test-to-stay at school

Damakant Jayshi The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has eased its COVID-19 related recommendations, including ending quarantine requirements for the unvaccinated and test-to-stay for K-12 schools and childcare centers. Announcing its updated recommendations on the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday, the CDC said it is removing “the recommendation to quarantine, except in high-risk congregate settings”…

Masking recommended again as COVID-19 rises anew in Wisconsin

Nearly 2.6 million Wisconsin residents live in counties where COVID-19 numbers and hospitalizations are high enough that federal guidelines call for everyone to wear masks indoors away from home. COVID community levels (orange) are listed as high in 16 Wisconsin counties, including the three most populous. Community levels were updated July 21. They reflect new…

Aspirus provides COVID-19 vaccines to all age groups

WAUSAU – Everyone over 6 months of age is now eligible for vaccination against COVID-19. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on June 17 granted emergency use authorization to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 6 months to 5 years, as well as to Moderna’s vaccine for kids ages 6 months to 6 years. Aspirus Health…

US lifts COVID-19 test requirement for international travel

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is lifting its requirement that international air travelers to the U.S. take a COVID-19 test within a day before boarding their flights, easing one of the last remaining government mandates meant to contain the spread of the coronavirus. A senior administration official said the mandate expires Sunday at 12:01…

Health department suggests COVID-19 caution on Memorial Day weekend

With a three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend upon us, the state health department is warning Wisconsin residents to pay attention to COVID-19 risks where they live or where they will be visiting. Gather outdoors as much as possible and wear masks indoors in areas where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported…