Switzerland Not Recommending COVID-19 Vaccine, Including for High-Risk Individuals

Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health said no COVID-19 vaccination is recommended this spring/summer season, including for people at high risk of becoming seriously sick from the virus. 

“Nearly everyone in Switzerland has been vaccinated and/or contracted and recovered from COVID-19. Their immune system has therefore been exposed to the coronavirus,” the Swiss health agency said.

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Biden Names Two Federal Officials as Monkeypox Coordinators

U.S. President Joe Biden has appointed two federal officials as the administration’s monkeypox coordinators, the White House said Tuesday.

Biden named Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Robert Fenton as the White House National Monkeypox Response Coordinator and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis as the Deputy Coordinator.

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21 States Join Lawsuit to End Federal Mask Mandate on Airplanes, Public Transportation

Twenty-one states have filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s continued mask mandate on public transportation, including on airplanes.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody are leading the effort. Moody filed the suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida along with 20 other attorneys general. DeSantis said the mask mandate was misguided and heavy-handed.

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Biden Administration Announces End to Title 42 Expulsions of Illegal Immigrant Children

The White House will no longer expel unaccompanied immigrant children under a controversial pandemic-related health rule, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday, though adults and families can still be removed from the country under the provision.

The Biden administration said it would cease expelling children under the CDC policy known as Title 42, which allows the government to eject migrants from the country if they are believed to pose a public health risk connected to the pandemic.

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Fauci Email Shows NIH Dr. Claimed DeWine Would Create Demand for Global COVID Response Corps

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Over 3,200 pages of Dr. Anthony Fauci emails contain at least one reference to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. A National Institutes of Health (NIH) doctor – Paul Kilmarx – sent an email in April 2020 stating that DeWine would be part of a group of Republican governors who would be “most interested and helpful” to “encourage implementation and create demand” for a COVID-19 Response Corps.

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EXCLUSIVE: One Year Into Mandates Ohio Still Can’t Back Up Policies When Under Oath, Maurice Thompson Says

Monday will mark one year since Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the statewide stay at home order signed by then-Director of the Ohio Department of Health Dr. Amy Acton.

Soon after, the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law began litigating to challenge the lawfulness of the orders, “winning many cases,” according to Maurice Thompson, an attorney for the firm.

“One year later, the Department of Health – when under oath – still cannot justify the “Director’s Stay at Home Orders,” said Thompson in a press release similarly titled that he shared exclusively with The Ohio Star on Friday morning.

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Ohio Governor DeWine Rescinds Quarantine Guidance for Classrooms and Schools, Not Sports and Extracurriculars

During a COVID briefing on Wednesday Ohio Governor Mike DeWine rescinded the State of Ohio guidance suggesting students quarantine after being in close contact with other COVID-positive students in school and the classroom.

“Today we are changing our guidance,” said DeWine, who continued “I know that there’s been a great deal of pain – students not being able to do things because they are in quarantine. I fully understand that and I’m sorry that happened, but we had to follow the CDC guidance.”

The Governor said the decision was based on an evaluation of Ohio students, a CDC report involving students in Mississippi, and priority the Governor has given to teachers and staff to receive the COVID vaccine.

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Ohio Governor DeWine Calls Special Presser to Talk State Hospital Capacity

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine called a special briefing Monday to update Ohioans on the record number of COVID hospital admissions statewide. He was joined by members of the Ohio Hospital Association – Robert Wyllie, Cleveland Clinic; Andrew Thomas, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center; Richard Lofgren, UC Health; Ronda Lehman, Mercy Health.

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Ohio Near Bottom in Coronavirus Tests Per Capita Among All 50 States

Gov. DeWine Coronavirus Testina

Ohio is 44th out of 50 states in terms of the number of tests performed per capita for the Chinese coronavirus, data show.

Worldometers tracks COVID-19 test results and related data. The information, which was updated Sunday afternoon, is available here.

Looking at tests performed by 1 million, or per capita, is a method to adjust for population differences.

Based on that strategy, Ohio is 44th out of 50 states and Washington, D.C., with 5,432 tests done for every person out of 1 million people.

The national figure is 8,371 tests per million.

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Ohio Prioritizes Coronavirus Testing for Hospitalized Patients

Ohio has a new protocol to check for the coronavirus now that in-state testing is available for high-priority cases for hospitalized patients.

“As the COVID-19 situation evolves, the Ohio Department of Health, working in conjunction with hospitals, primary care providers, and other health care experts, has a plan to maximize our testing resources,” Gov. Mike DeWine said Saturday in a press release. “We are prioritizing the patients who are the most vulnerable to be tested in the Department of Health’s State Laboratory, while ensuring those that need COVID-19 testing will be able to be tested.”

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US Records 71 New Measles Cases Last Week as Outbreak Spreads

Reuters   The United States recorded 71 new measles cases last week, a 13 percent increase as the country faces its second-worst outbreak of the disease in almost two decades, federal health officials said on Monday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had recorded 626 cases…

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