XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant now dominant in all US regions CIDRAP

In its new variant estimates today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant is now dominant the northwestern region, making it the most

Also, the more transmissible variant expanded its footprint in areas where it already dominates, and in the United States as a whole, it accounts for an estimated 80.2% of samples, up steadily from 74.7% the previous week.

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OIG Finds Failings with Project Airbridge, FEMA’s COVID-19 Response - HS Today OIG said the project’s $238 million may have been better spent on other COVID-19 initiatives. OIG said the project’s $238 million may have been better spent on other COVID-19 initiatives. Kylie Bielby Hstoday

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Ukrainian grain shipments drop as ship backups grow LONDON (AP) — The amount of grain leaving Ukraine has dropped even as a U.N.-brokered deal works to keep food flowing to developing nations, with inspections of ships falling to half what they were four months ago and a backlog of vessels growing as Russia's invasion nears the one-year mark. AP NEWS

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Health care vaccine mandate remains as some push for an end LOWRY CITY, Mo. (AP) — At Truman Lake Manor in rural Missouri, every day begins the same way for every employee entering the nursing home's doors — with a swab up the nose, a swirl of testing solution and a brief wait to see whether a thin red line appears indicating a positive COVID-19 case. AP NEWS

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COVID increases your risk for cardiac complications—immediately and into the future, experts say. Here’s how you can protect your heart Long COVID isn’t the only opportunity for the virus to wreak havoc later on. YahooFinance

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With COVID here to stay, what can the average person do to protect their heart?

Keeping heart-healthy pre-COVID looks largely the same during COVID, Dr. Michelle Albert, president of the American Heart Association, tells Fortune.

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For poor schools, building repairs zap COVID relief money JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The air-conditioning gave out as students returned from summer break last year to Jim Hill High School in Jackson, Mississippi, forcing them to learn in sweltering heat. By Thanksgiving, students were huddling under blankets because the heat wasn’t working. Along the way students dealt with broken showers in locker rooms, plumbing issues and a litany of other problems in the nearly 60-year-old school building. “There’s been... MSN

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U.S. to select 10 costliest drugs for Medicare pricing negotiation The U.S. government will select the 10 costliest prescription medicines to Medicare for negotiating prices with drugmakers starting early next year, the program's top official said on Friday. Ahmed Aboulenein Reuters

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... While some people avoided seeking medical care during the worst of the pandemic, worried about the risk of infection or unable to get an appointment because hospitals and doctors were overwhelmed, now many are finding that inflation and the uncertain economy have thrown up another barrier.

The race to an RSV vaccine could soon be over, decades after the first attempt The FDA is poised to approve multiple RSV vaccines this year. The leading candidates are for older adults, but shots to protect infants are in the pipeline. NBC News

Roughly six decades after the first attempt to develop a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, the Food and Drug Administration is poised to approve several shots by next winter.

Omicron hospital illness 54% deadlier than flu hospital cases, study finds Adults hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infections in Switzerland died at 1.5 times the rate of those diagnosed as having influenza A or B. CIDRAP

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Analysis of a subgroup of patients hospitalized primarily for COVID-19 or flu found that the risk of death was 2.5 times higher, and the likelihood of ICU admission was 1.7 times higher, among Omicron than flu patients.

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Long-COVID patients report job, money issues in addition to lingering symptoms CIDRAP

Long-COVID patients have higher rates of unemployment and underemployment than their recovered peers and are likely to have persistent or new-onset symptoms, disabilities, and financial problems in the 6 months after hospitalization, according to two US studies published in JAMA Network Open. ...

San Francisco to end COVID-19 public health emergency declaration Feb. 28 San Francisco Department of Public Health announced that the city would end its COVID-19 public health emergency declaration, along with additional health orders on Feb. 28. ABC7 San Francisco

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