Ban on COVID vaccine mandates by private businesses, including health care facilities, passes Texas Senate
The bill offers no exceptions for doctorsโ offices, clinics or other health facilities. Senators agreed to let those entities require unvaccinated employees to wear personal protective gear or take other โreasonableโ measures to manage the spread.
For Texans with long COVID, specialized centers can provide more effective treatments โ if they can access them
Long COVID clinics in Texas are few and far between, often with months-long waitlists. But these centers can provide care that validates stigmatized patients, offers unique treatments and teaches physicians more about the new condition.
Texas Supreme Court says Gov. Greg Abbottโs COVID ban on local mask rules was lawful
Several of Texasโ largest cities sought to put in place mask requirements, which Gov. Greg Abbott overturned. The ruling is a legal win for Republicans in Austin their ongoing symbolic fight with cities, often run by Democrats.
UK was ill-prepared for pandemic because resources were diverted to Brexit, ex-health chief says
Britain's former health secretary has told an official inquiry that the U.K. was ill-prepared for a pandemic partly because government resources had been diverted away from pandemic planning to brace for a possibly chaotic no-deal Brexit.
Texas schools say itโs time to stop tying mental health funding to school safety money
Federal pandemic aid helped build public school mental health services in Texas. School officials now brace for the expiration of those funds next year. Theyโre urging lawmakers to create a dedicated funding stream for mental health assistance in schools.
Japan to lift COVID-19 border controls before holiday week
Japan will lift most of its coronavirus border controls, including a requirement that entrants show proof of three vaccinations or a pre-departure negative test, beginning Saturday as the countryโs Golden Week holiday season begins and a large influx of foreign tourists is expected.
Why some Texas cities and counties had to return millions of dollars meant to help renters during the pandemic
For some local relief programs, a lack of staffing, political support and effective community outreach got in the way of spending federal funds to prevent evictions, a new report found. More than $30 million went unspent and had to be returned.
Foundations, major donors tackle nationโs nursing shortage
As more nurses leave their jobs in hospitals and health-care centers, foundations are pouring millions of dollars into efforts to ensure that more stay in the profession and get more out of the job than just the applause and pats on the back they got during the bleakest days of the pandemic.
WHO pleased to see China ease harsh zero COVID policies
A top official at the World Health Organization said the U_N_ agency was โpleasedโ to see China loosening some of its coronavirus restrictions, saying โitโs really important that governments listen to their people when the people are in pain.โ.
House panel says lax screening helped facilitate PPP fraud
A House investigations panel says financial technology firms โabdicatedโ their responsibility to screen out fraud in applications for a federal program designed to help small businesses stay open and keep workers employed during the pandemic.
Chinese users play cat-and-mouse with censors amid protests
Word of anti-lockdown protests in China spread on domestic social media for a short period last weekend, thanks to a rare pause in the cat-and-mouse game that goes on between millions of Chinese internet users and the countryโs gargantuan censorship machine.
Dallas Habitat for Humanity helps staff purchase homes
The Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity is using part of the $9 million gift it received from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in March to provide its staff members a new employee benefit โ $13,500 in the form of a forgivable loan to help with a down payment or closing costs on a home.
Australian Parliament censures former prime minister
Australiaโs former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has listed his achievements in government including standing up to a โbullying" China as he unsuccessfully argued against being censured by the Parliament for secretly amassing multiple ministerial powers.
Hundreds at Harvard, NYC, Chicago protest China's actions
Hundreds of people have gathered at Harvard University and near Chinese consulates in New York and Chicago to support protesters who have called for that countryโs leader to step down amid severe anti-virus restrictions in the biggest demonstrations against the government in Beijing in decades.