Health

WASHINGTON — A group of prominent doctors and educators has asked the Biden administration to lift pandemic-related measures that could be causing children to miss school and other activities. “We strongly urge you to review the CDC’s COVID-19 guidelines with regard to testing, isolation, and vaccine recommendations for children to ensure that public health policies …

Doctors group urges Biden administration to review guidelines for children Read More »

WASHINGTON — In recent days, a social media image showing a page from a second-grade yearbook at an Oregon public school in which students are masked has led to outrage from those who say children don’t need to wear face coverings in the classroom. “What we’re doing to kids in this country is horrific,” Missy …

Misinformation or potent symbol? An out-of-date yearbook photo of masked 2nd graders raises questions Read More »

WASHINGTON — “We need to move away from the pandemic,” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Monday outside the West Wing, shortly after the group he heads, the National Governors Association, met with President Biden at the White House. “We asked the president to help give us clear guidelines on how we can return to a …

Governors look to move beyond COVID restrictions and return to ‘a great state of normality’ Read More »

If there’s anything parents have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years, it’s the importance of in-person learning for children. “Remote learning exacerbated existing educational inequities and was detrimental to the educational attainment of students of all ages and worsened the growing mental health crisis among children and adolescents,” according to the …

Doctors say ‘health is about more than the absence of COVID-19’ for children Read More »

COVID-19 updates. See latest news. Are Americans “done with COVID,” as the journalist Bari Weiss said she was on last week’s “Real Time With Bill Maher,” triggering a frenzy of commentary and controversy? The short answer is: not yet. According to the latest Yahoo News/YouGov poll, nearly 7 in 10 Americans (69 percent) say the …

Most Americans aren’t ‘done with COVID.’ But new numbers hint they may be soon. Read More »

WASHINGTON — Asked at a Wednesday briefing of the White House pandemic response team about when Americans could expect life to return to normal, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky offered a somewhat cryptic but revealing response. “We know people are anxious,” Walensky said. Asked which anxiety she was referring to, a …

‘We know people are anxious’ to return to pre-pandemic life Read More »

WASHINGTON — New Jersey became the latest state to lift school mask mandates on Monday, as Democrats continue to struggle over how to keep schools open, adhere to scientific guidance and allay a base that remains in favor of a cautious approach to the pandemic. A warning of how confounding the issue of masking children …

The school culture wars turn to mask mandates Read More »

WASHINGTON — The debate over whether children need to wear face masks in classrooms to prevent the spread of the coronavirus took a new turn on Tuesday, with Randi Weingarten, head of the influential American Federation of Teachers, indicating that she was in favor of unmasking, provided certain metrics were met. “I think we have …

‘No one wants masks in schools’ Read More »

LOS ANGELES — On Wednesday, California — the most COVID-cautious state in the country — finally lifted its indoor mask mandate. But Los Angeles, the state’s largest city, has refused to follow suit. According to LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, Angelenos will probably have to wait another month before they can officially remove …

Is LA making a mistake by refusing to lift its mask mandate with the rest of California? Read More »

Amid plummeting COVID-19 rates, the Biden administration eased its indoor mask recommendations Friday for about 70 percent of Americans, including most schoolchildren — a shift that could hasten the end of mask mandates in the United States. Before Friday, more than 96 percent of US counties were considered areas of “substantial” or “high” transmission, where …

The end of mask mandates? CDC eases guidelines for schools and public spaces, signaling larger shift. Read More »