coronavirus pandemic

Amid a pandemic-fueled “blood crisis” with not enough donated blood to go around, LGBTQ advocates and Congress are calling for the FDA to reconsider its current policy that bars gay and bisexual men from donating blood if they’ve been sexually active in the past three months. Sarah Kate Ellis, president of GLAAD, an advocacy group, explains what the organization wrote...

The Biden administration will make 400 million N95 masks from the Strategic National Stockpile available for free to Americans starting next week

The 2022 Grammy Awards will shift to an April show in Las Vegas after recently postponing the ceremony due to growing concerns with the rise of the omicron variant

Scientists are piecing together why some people lose their sense of smell after contracting COVID-19. A study published Monday in the journal Nature Genetics identified a genetic risk factor associated with the loss of smell after a COVID infection, a discovery that brings experts closer to understanding the perplexing pattern and may point the way toward much-needed treatments.  Six months...

Aaron Collins, also known as @masknerd on Twitter, explains what you need to know about high-filtration masks like KN95s, KF94s and N95s, which are able to filter out viral particles and can help you stay safe amid the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Public health experts have recently urged people to dump their cloth masks in favor of higher-quality options and to test more frequently to curb the virus.

Sharply higher costs are yet another challenge thrown at business owners by the global pandemic.

COVID-19 infections are soaring again at U.S. nursing homes because of the omicron wave, and deaths are climbing too

The school district in historic Selma, Alabama is going remote after many cases of COVID-19 among teachers and staff, and in the community. “We did not have the adults available [for in-person learning], because of either testing positive or having close contact with someone who tested positive,” said superintendent Avis Williams.

Dr. Jason Chertoff tries to focus on the positive and why he got into the medical profession: to help people. But at the Ohio ICU where he works, morale is rapidly depleting as the unit again fills with COVID-19 patients – most of whom are unvaccinated. Chertoff says he’s tried to convince people to get their shots – meanwhile, staffing...

With COVID-19 cases spiking in Virginia, more hospitals have moved into what’s called “crisis standards of care,” which allows them to extend resources and reduce the impact of supply or physician shortages. In Fredericksburg, Mary Washington Hospital transformed its parking garage into a field hospital. News4’s Cory Smith got an inside look before the first patients arrived.

The rapper’s cancellation comes less than a month after COVID-19 caused most of the show’s cast members to stay home for its final episode of 2021.

President Joe Biden detailed Thursday his administration’s efforts to double its procurement of rapid COVID-19 tests and make high-quality masks available for free as coronavirus cases continue to spike nationwide.

Omicron has probably reached its peak in the northeast United States, says NBC medical contributor Dr. Natalie Azar. Cases are rising less quickly than before and could hopefully come down quickly too. But “we have to watch and wait and see what happens,” Azar says.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Americans were increasingly feeling angry, stressed and worried, according to data from Gallup. But the pandemic has many people looking wistfully at the past, says clinical psychologist Allison Kanter Agliata. She says we need to manage grief about the past while also forging a path for the future. And people struggling should know there are...

President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the government will double to 1 billion the rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests to be distributed free to Americans, along with the most protective N95 masks, as he highlighted his efforts to “surge” resources to help the country weather the spike in coronavirus cases.

Suspicion, misinformation and other factors have combined to produce what authorities say are alarmingly low COVID-19 vaccination rates in U.S. children ages 5 to 11

Dr. Uché Blackstock looked at coronavirus prevention strategies like mask mandates ventilation, testing and rates of vaccination before deciding to sending them to New York City public schools. “This is a decision that no parent should have to make, but here we are having to make this decision,” Blackstock says.

The Biden administration is increasing federal support for COVID-19 testing for schools in a bid to keep them open amid the omicron surge

Democrats are speaking out more forcefully against COVID-19 school closures, recognizing a rising anger among parents worried that their kids are falling behind.