The more pandemic precautions fall away, the more COVID risk is concentrated on this one group When everyone around them stops taking pandemic precautions, it gets harder for immunocompromised Americans to protect themselves against COVID. YahooNews

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U.S. Covid Test Positivity Hits 10% The United States has reported a 26 percent increase in coronavirus test positivity in the last two weeks. In states such as Arizona, Utah, South Dakota and Missouri, test positivity rates are above 20 percent. RTTNews

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As per the latest data published by the New York Times, one tenth of people who are subjected to Covid tests nationwide are diagnosed with coronavirus infection. This is the highest rate in many months. ...

'Great Resignation' of healthcare professionals affects patient care The nationwide shortage of healthcare professionals -- a so-called "Great Resignation" of providers -- is impacting patient care in ways large and small, a new HealthDay/Harris Poll shows. UPI

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More than half (57%) blamed staffing shortages for the lack of care, and experts told HealthDay Now that these folks aren't wrong.

US officials say 2 more places will test sewage for polio NEW YORK (AP) — Philadelphia and Oakland County, Michigan, are joining the small list of U.S. localities that are looking for signs of polio infections in sewage, U.S. health officials said Wednesday. AP NEWS

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CDC officials say they have been talking with other communities about also starting polio wastewater testing. They are focused on cities and counties with low polio vaccination coverage and those in which travelers had visited the New York communities where polio was found.

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Millions suffer from long Covid — and it costs them $9,000 a year in health-care expenses, on average

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David Cutler, an economist at Harvard University who projected the $3.7 trillion economic cost of long Covid, estimates the individual medical costs of the disease to be about $9,000 a year, on average. However, typical costs can range from roughly $3,700 up to almost $14,000, Cutler said.

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China eases virus controls amid effort to head off protests BEIJING (AP) — More Chinese cities eased anti-virus restrictions and police patrolled their streets Thursday as the government tried to defuse public anger over some of the world’s most stringent COVID measures and head off more protests . AP NEWS

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NYC public employees among 19 accused of pandemic aid fraud NEW YORK (AP) — Nineteen people including 17 New York City and New York state public employees were charged in a federal complaint unsealed Wednesday with submitting fraudulent applications for funds intended to help small businesses survive the coronavirus pandemic. AP NEWS

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New Banana-Derived Therapy Is Effective Against All Known Coronaviruses and Flu Strains The potential therapy was derived from a banana protein. A study published on January 13th, 2020 touted the development of a potential therapy that may be used to fight all known strains of the flu. One week later, the first laboratory-confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 triggered the two-and-a-half-ye Colin Collins SciTechDaily

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West Virginia to end COVID-related emergency order in 2023 CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Republican Gov. Jim Justice said Wednesday that West Virginia's state of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic will end at the start of the new year. The state of emergency has been in effect since March 16, 2020. AP NEWS

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Most U.S. states have now ended COVID-19-related emergency orders, or have orders in place that will expire in the coming weeks and months.

More Republicans Died Than Democrats after COVID-19 Vaccines Came Out The sharp divergence in excess death rates that emerged in the post-vaccine period "is pretty striking… and the magnitudes are quite large." Yale University Nextgov.com

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The study finds that excess deaths during the pandemic were 76% higher among Republicans than Democrats in two states, Ohio and Florida.

What’s more, the partisan gap in death rates increased significantly after vaccines were introduced.