Senators announce $10 billion COVID-19 deal, leave out global aid

Senators announced on Monday they had reached a deal to provide $10 billion for the fight against COVID-19, but the agreement leaves out funding for the global virus response. 

The agreement could clear the path for Congress to finally pass some new funding for the virus response, which the White House has been warning for weeks is urgently needed to allow it to purchase more vaccines, treatments and tests. 

The announcement comes after days of negotiations between a group of GOP senators and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), with negotiators signaling late last week that they were close to finalizing specifics. 

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/04/04/world/covid-19-mandates-cases-vaccine#some-states-in-the-us-are-seeing-new-cases-increase

Some U.S. states see new covid cases increase.

Across the United States, officials have dropped mask mandates and are closing mass vaccine and testing sites as new coronavirus cases have fallen nationally to about 27,000 a day on average. But several states — mostly in the Northeast — have had some increases in case numbers over the past two weeks, according to a New York Times database

U.K. reaches record Covid levels, with nearly 5 million cases The surge is driven by the more transmissible omicron variant BA.2, which is the dominant variant across the U.K. NBC News

LONDON — The prevalence of Covid-19 in the U.K. has reached record levels, with about 1 in 13 people estimated to be infected with the virus in the past week, according to the latest figures from Britain’s official statistics agency.

Pandemic took a toll on teen mental health, US study says NEW YORK (AP) — More than 4 in 10 U.S. high school students said they felt persistently sad or hopeless during the pandemic, according to government findings released Thursday. Several medical groups have warned that pandemic isolation from school closures and lack of social gatherings has taken a toll on young people's mental health. AP NEWS

NEW YORK (AP) —  ...

Study: Pregnancy nearly doubles risks of breakthrough COVID-19 A study published on Thursday found that pregnancy nearly doubles the risk of breakthrough COVID-19 cases, closely followed in risk by a solid organ transplant. The study conducted by Wisconsin-bas… cvakil The Hill

A study published on Thursday found that pregnancy nearly doubles the risk of breakthrough COVID-19 cases, closely followed in risk by a solid organ transplant.