Month: September 2021

A teacher greets students outside iPrep Academy in Miami, Florida, on August 23. (Lynne Sladky/AP) Second Circuit Judge John Cooper has ruled against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appeal, allowing Florida schools to continue to have mask mandates while the case is appealed at a higher level. Effective immediately, the state of Florida must stop their enforcement of a mask ban, which ends sanctions against several school districts who have implemented mask mandates. DeSantis had appealed Cooper’s earlier ruling that that stated the governor overreached and did not have the authority to ban school districts from implementing mask mandates without a parent opt-out. That appeal led to an immediate pause on mask mandates while a ruling was made. Thirteen Florida school districts have now imple...

COVID-19 ‘mu’ variant found in Dallas County A new variant of COVID-19 has been found in Dallas County. DALLAS - A new variant of COVID-19 has been found in Dallas County. Five cases of the COVID-19 mu variant have been discovered in testing, officials said. "At this stage, it’s still in the preliminary category, but certainly something we’re watching," said Dr. Philip Huang, Dallas County Health and Human Services. Nationwide, there are roughly 2,400 cases in 49 states, leaving out only Nebraska. Huang echoes the World Health Organization experts who say ‘mu’ is a "variant of interest," but has not yet met the criteria for a "variant of concern." "Thus far it’s still too early to fully know how well the vaccines work against ...

The Bay Area may be seeing the first signs that the delta surge is finally waning after upending what was supposed to be a summer of relative pandemic freedom. But public health experts warn that this fourth wave is unlike any other the region has seen so far, and it’s too soon to say how fast it will ebb or whether the current downward trends will hold, with children back in school and holidays and other events on the horizon that could drive up cases once again. This winter could see another uptick, and vaccination rates may not reach high enough levels to substantially curb the pandemic until early next year, experts say. For the moment, there are glimmers of hope. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 in the Bay Area dropped for six consecutive days over the end of last m...

A person presents their vaccine card at Liberty Theatre in Camas, Washington. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images) A public health order took effect in Clallam and Jefferson counties last week, requiring proof of vaccination for patrons entering an indoor restaurant or bar. As for why officials ultimately opted for that measure, health officer Dr. Allison Berry spoke to KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Show to explain. King County to explore enacting new vaccine requirements In prac...