Month: April 2021

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 829,520 as of Tuesday, including 17,429 deaths, state officials report. Tuesday’s update includes a total of 3,676 new cases and 105 additional deaths, including 48 from review of Vital Records. Testing has been steady around 35,000 diagnostic tests reported per day on average, with the 7-day positive rate above 11% as of Tuesday, lower than one week ago. Hospitalizations have plateaued over the last week but remain high. Overall, new cases have slowed over the last 10 days. The state’s 7-day moving average for daily cases was 4,340 on Tuesday -- lower than one week ago. The 7-day death average was 66 on Tuesday, slightly higher than the last two weeks. The state’s fatality rate is 2.1%. The state also ...

Washington — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) unveiled updated guidelines on Tuesday detailing activities that vaccinated people can safely resume, including attending small outdoor gatherings without the need to wear a mask. The new "interim public health recommendations" detail a variety of situations in which individuals who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can forgo wearing a mask, but urged the continued use of face coverings in most indoor settings and in crowded outdoor areas. "Today is another day we can take a step back to the normalcy of before," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a briefing by Biden administration officials. "Over the past year, we have spent a lot of time telling Americans what they cannot do, what they should not do. ...

Tuesday’s guidance includes a color-coded chart that shows activities that fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people can do indoors and outdoors, and which ones can be done without masks. The safest activities, highlighted in green, are outdoors in small gatherings. Activities with the greatest risk are indoor settings that involve behaviors such as singing, shouting, heavy breathing, inability to wear a mask or inability to maintain physical distancing, such as indoor high-intensity exercise class.

CBS anchor Gayle King called herself "so confused" Tuesday by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra as he sought to explain why vaccinated individuals should still wear masks outdoors. On "CBS This Morning," Becerra said, "The message is clear: You're vaccinated, you get to return to a more normal lifestyle. If you're not vaccinated, you're still a danger, you're still in danger as well, so get vaccinated." "I've often wondered, I'm outside, by myself, nobody's around, why am I wearing a mask?" King asked Becerra. "If you're vaccinated, do you have to wear a mask outside or you don't have to wear a mask outside?" FAUCI ACKNOWLEDGES OUTDOOR COVID-19 TRANSMISSION 'LOW,' EXPECTS UPDATED MASK GUIDANCE "Well we weren't born with masks, but we want to be safe and we want to pr...

Kristi and Happy Wade are on the mend after being attacked by a rabid bobcat in the driveway of their North Carolina home in a wild, viral video that shocked social media. On the early morning of April 9, the couple was getting into their car to take their cat to the vet when a bobcat pounced on Kristi’s back and bit her, prompting her husband to toss a tray of brownies and run around the SUV to help her. Happy was also bit while wrangling the wild animal, which he was able to chuck across their front lawn and escape from harm’s way. The wild surprise was caught on a home security camera and has since been viewed over 12 million times since hitting Twitter last week. WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS PROFANITY  Law enforcement arrived at the Wade home, where officers killed the cat, WECT repor...