COVID-19
Wisconsin Supreme Court hears arguments in case over right to take ivermectin
The Wisconsin Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case over a COVID-19 patient’s legal right to force a hospital to ignore its own protocols and provide a widely discredited and ineffective treatment. On Sept 19, 2021, Waukesha County resident John Zingsheim was admitted to Aurora Medical Center-Summit after being diagnosed with COVID-19 three […]
White House resumes handing out free COVID-19 rapid test kits
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is once again offering Americans the opportunity to order free at-home COVID-19 rapid tests from the federal government, a program that it had shuttered amid an ongoing stalemate with Congress over additional funding to address the virus. The program will allow each household to order four free COVID-19 tests as […]
Congress on track to scrap Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate in defense bill
WASHINGTON — Members of the U.S. military would no longer be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine under a proposal Congress could pass as soon as this week. The provision eliminating the vaccine mandate is tucked into the massive National Defense Authorization Act, the annual defense policy bill that Congress has passed each year for […]
State launches telehealth program to help expand antiviral COVID-19 treatment
Seeking to spread access to antiviral medication more widely, the state health department has begun offering free telehealth service available to people who test positive for COVID-19. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) launched the program expecting COVID-19 cases to rise in the coming months, said Dr. Jon Meiman, chief medical officer for DHS, […]
Millions of workers are dealing with long COVID. Advocates call for expanding social safety net.
Emily Withnall caught COVID-19 from her teenager in July 2020. In the more than two years since, the 40-year-old has suffered from debilitating fatigue, spinal pain and heart palpitations. In addition to her primary care doctor, she regularly sees a cardiologist and says her acupuncturist and craniosacral therapy help relieve her pain and the trouble […]
COVID-19 cases ease slightly, but experts warn of potential winter surge
The spread of COVID-19 has slowly diminished in Wisconsin since Memorial Day, but public health specialists and health care providers are watching for the likelihood of a new increase in the coming weeks. There are already signs that a rise in cases might have begun, although doctors caution that the novel coronavirus’s evolution has been […]
FDA, CDC greenlight updated COVID-19 booster for kids 5 to 11
WASHINGTON — The federal government on Wednesday recommended an updated COVID-19 booster for kids between 5 and 11, expanding use of the new bivalent shots beyond people 12 and older. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration first authorized the updated vaccines use in the morning before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended them […]
Supreme Court to weigh in on whether judge can order ivermectin to treat COVID-19
The Wisconsin Supreme Court will take up a lawsuit that sought to force a hospital to administer ivermectin to a COVID-19 patient. The Court agreed to look at the issue after a state appeals court rejected the demand of a Waukesha County man who wanted a judge to order a hospital to use ivermectin to […]
COVID-19 vaccine may become annual, like flu shot
WASHINGTON — COVID-19 boosters shots are on track to become as frequent as the annual flu shot, though high-risk people may need more than one dose per year, Biden administration officials said Tuesday. “For a large majority of Americans, we are moving to a point where a single annual COVID shot should provide a high […]
Cyclists, pedestrians and motorists clash over COVID street changes
During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, cities including Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles installed dedicated bus lanes within a matter of months. To aid struggling restaurants, many cities eliminated parking spaces to allow curbside pickup zones for takeout and delivery. Communities closed off lanes or even whole streets to make space for pedestrian-only […]
COVID-19 levels and hospitalizations remain high where more than half of state residents live
One-third of Wisconsin counties have high community levels of COVID-19, a federal designation that carries a recommendation for universal masking indoors away from home. Those counties are home to more than half of Wisconsin residents and range from major metropolitan areas to much smaller and lesser-populated parts of the state. The Centers for Disease Control […]
Biden tests positive for COVID-19 again in ‘rebound’ infection
WASHINGTON — The White House announced that President Joe Biden tested positive again for COVID-19 this past weekend in what his physician said represented “rebound” positivity. “The President has experienced no reemergence of symptoms, and continues to feel quite well,” his physician, Dr. Kevin C. O’Connor, said in a letter to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre […]