Incomplete data likely masks a rise in U.S. Covid cases as focus on infection counts fades Experts agree that daily U.S. Covid cases are dramatically undercounted. Some have begun to question the stat’s importance in this phase of the pandemic. NBC News

At first glance, U.S. Covid cases appear to have plateaued over the past two weeks, with a consistent average of around 30,000 cases per day, according to NBC News' tally.

With COVID mission over, Pentagon plans for next pandemic WASHINGTON (AP) — A COVID-19 patient was in respiratory distress. The Army nurse knew she had to act quickly. It was the peak of this year’s omicron surge and an Army medical team was helping in a Michigan hospital. AP NEWS

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Cases are spiking in New York City and Washington, D.C. The New York Times

While much of the United States has reported a plateau in coronavirus cases in recent weeks, New York City and Washington, D.C., have been battling a swift rise in cases in the last two weeks as the virus has again upended Broadway and the halls of the federal government.

'Youth are in crisis': Mental health of US high school students worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic, CDC survey finds | CNN Mental health concerns among high school students in the United States were exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to survey results published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deidre McPhillips CNN

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Experts say US suspension of COVID aid will prolong pandemic LONDON (AP) — In the latest Senate package targeted at stopping the coronavirus, U.S. lawmakers dropped nearly all funding for curbing the virus beyond American borders, a move many health experts slammed as dangerously short-sighted. AP NEWS

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Appeals court OKs Biden federal employee vaccine mandate NEW ORLEANS (AP) — President Joe Biden’s requirement that all federal employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 was upheld Thursday by a federal appeals court. In a 2-1 ruling, a panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court and ordered dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the mandate. AP NEWS

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COVID cases rise again in half the states While case numbers for the U.S. as a whole are still dropping, a growing number of states have seen their own numbers being to rise again. Tina Reed,Kavya Beheraj Axios

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Half of the states are seeing COVID case numbers rise again while nationwide totals continue to fall.

The big picture: The Omicron subvariant known as BA.2 is the dominant strain circulating around the U.S., accounting for almost three out of every four cases.

German lawmakers reject mandatory COVID shots for over 60s BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers on Thursday rejected a bill requiring all people 60 and over in the country to be vaccinated against coronavirus — a compromise solution the government had hoped would get a parliamentary majority. AP NEWS

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Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his health minister originally called for a vaccine mandate to apply to all adults in Germany, but some government lawmakers and most of the opposition had balked at the idea. ...