omicron

Health & Safety

Why omicron is crushing hospitals — even though cases are often milder than delta

1:54pm January 29, 2022

by Will Stone

People who get infected with omicron are less likely to go to the hospital, go on a ventilator or die. But with the current huge volume of patients, hospitals are still struggling to treat them all.

A student washes her hands before entering a classroom at a school in Blantyre, Malawi, in March 2021. Top scientists say that many African countries, including Malawi, appear to have already arrived at a substantially less threatening stage of the corona

Health & Safety

Africa may have reached the pandemic's holy grail

6:23pm January 28, 2022

by Nurith Aizenman

New findings from Malawi suggest the country has entered something akin to the endemic stage of the pandemic — along with many other African nations.

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A computer-generated image of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

A second version of omicron is spreading. Here's why scientists are on alert

6:36pm January 27, 2022

by Michaeleen Doucleff

It's a sibling of the first omicron variant that swept the world. Is it more contagious? Does it cause severe disease? Will it keep current omicron surges going? Researchers are looking for answers.

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With its new COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer and BioNTech are hoping to get ahead of worsening effects of omicron as well as any new variants.

Pfizer and BioNTech begin testing an omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine

11:29am January 25, 2022

by Joe Hernandez

Though people who are vaccinated and boosted appear to be better protected against omicron, the highly contagious variant has still led to breakthrough cases and a surge in infections worldwide.

Health & Safety

Novant will use AI technology to expedite emergency care

11:22am January 24, 2022

by Neal Charnoff

Novant Health is turning to artificial intelligence in an effort to expedite emergency room treatment.

The Yanqing Winter Olympic Village in Beijing is just one of the many "closed loop" locations that will isolate athletes, staff and the limited number of spectators.

China's Olympics aim to keep COVID at bay with armpit sensors, robots and more

3:49pm January 22, 2022

Athletes and other attendees will be in a closed "loop" with strict rules about everything from daily testing for athletes to how spectators should respond — no cheering out loud, please!

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07 January 2021, Bavaria, Munich: The snowman "Claude", who was built on a hill in the Olympic complex, wears a mouth-nose protection over his nose, which is made of a banana.

Coronavirus FAQ: What's the risk of catching omicron outdoors?

7:28pm January 21, 2022

by Sheila Mulrooney Eldred

Previous versions of the coronavirus didn't transmit as easily outdoors thanks to airflow that dispersed viral particles. But what about the highly transmissible omicron variant?

European carriers are urging the European Union to alter so-called "use it or lose it" regulations forcing airlines to continue flying empty or near-empty flights.

A teen's solo transatlantic flight calls attention to wasteful 'ghost flights'

5:01pm January 21, 2022

by Vanessa Romo

Kai Forsyth relished being the only passenger on a flight from London to Orlando. But his solo trip highlights the wastefulness of near-empty flights that environmentalists are trying to ban.

Racial and ethnic disparities resurface with omicron surge

10:17am January 21, 2022

by Neal Charnoff

State officials say the surge of the omicron COVID-19 variant has led to the re-emergence of racial and ethnic disparities.

Health & Safety

State prisons implement new COVID-19 mitigation measures

7:39am January 21, 2022

by April Laissle

North Carolina's state prisons are putting new mitigation measures in place to prevent the spread of the omicron variant.