Federal courts relax COVID-19 mask requirements A growing number of federal district courts from coast to coast are easing requirements for lawyers, staff and visitors to wear masks when entering their courthouses amid a nationwide decline in COVID-19 cases. Nate Raymond Reuters

...

6 Months of U.S. Data Support Safety of mRNA COVID Vaccines CDC reports find that most AEs were minor, transient, and few patients sought medical care Molly Walker medpagetoday

Nearly all local and systemic adverse events (AEs) reported after Pfizer or Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines were mild and transient, and only a fraction of individuals reported seeking medical care, according to data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and CDC's v-safe tracker.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: Reuters Reuters

--

China says Hong Kong must stick to "dynamic zero" COVID strategy

Mask mandates go away in schools, but parent worries persist BOSTON (AP) — Major school districts around the country are allowing students into classrooms without masks for the first time in nearly two years, eliminating rules that stirred up intense fights among educators, school boards and parents throughout the pandemic. AP NEWS

...

Covid-19 may cause greater loss of gray matter and tissue damage in the brain than naturally occurs in people who have not been infected with the virus, a large new study found.

The study, published Monday in the journal Nature, is believed to be the first involving people who underwent brain scans both before they contracted Covid and months after.

Neurological experts who were not involved in the research said it was valuable and unique, but they cautioned that the implications of the changes were unclear and did not necessarily suggest that people might have lasting damage or that the changes might profoundly affect thinking, memory or other functions.

WHO says COVID boosters needed, reversing previous call GENEVA (AP) — An expert group convened by the World Health Organization said Tuesday it “strongly supports urgent and broad access” to booster doses, in a reversal of the U.N. agency’s previous insistence that boosters weren’t necessary and contributed to vaccine inequity. AP NEWS

...