US to offer free at-home Covid tests by mail amid a coronavirus surge: Latest

Not everyone infected with Covid develops symptoms. But certain warning signs should prompt a visit to a hospital or urgent care centre.

According to Mass General Brigham, severe trouble breathing; new dizziness or confusion; persistent pressure or pain in the chest; inability to stay awake; and discoloration of the skin, nail beds, or lips all signal that you need emergent help.

As deaths and hospitalisations from Covid continue to rise, some California counties are requiring masks in certain settings again, NBC Bay Area reports.

Many counties will require people to mask in public areas like healthcare centres or jails, and some counties have said that people must wear masks in businesses, government offices, or public transportation hubs that require them.

Staying home if you suspect you are ill will be crucial in reducing cases of respiratory viruses this year, experts say.

The agency also encourages employers to “review and communicate their sick leave policies and practices to employees every year before flu season begins” to make sure employees know what they’re allowed to do when they’re ill.

For those looking to minimise trips to the pharmacy, it is okay to get both the Covid and flu shots at the same time, public health authorities say.

The federal government is restarting its mail-order Covid test program, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced this week.

Infants whose first year was spent during the pandemic have “fewer types of bacteria in their gut”, a report funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found.

The authors noted that the differences observed in the pandemic babies could be due to “the social changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with infants potentially experiencing more time at home, less time in daycare interacting with other children, increased hygiene in the environment, changes to diet and breastfeeding practices, and increased caregiver stress”.

It’s too soon to say what this could mean for babies born during the pandemic, a press release on the new research says: “The authors say that…speculating on the health implications of gut microbiome differences should be done with caution.”

A 64-year-old man in Singapore was sentenced to two weeks in jail after deliberately coughing at two of his colleagues after testing positive for Covid. He wasn’t wearing a mask at the time.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports:

Government and private health insurance plans, including Medicare, are required to cover Pfizer and Moderna updated boosters for free.

But some people are reporting difficulties getting insurance to pay for their shot, per reporting from CNBC.

Some have complained on social media, explaining they were charged up to $190 for the vaccine, which reduces the chances of getting severely ill or dying from Covid-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gave Northeastern University $17.5 billion to open an infectious disease prevention centre.

Alessandro Vespignani, director of the school’s Network Science Institute, said in a press release that when Covid-19 hit “everybody was caught off guard. We don’t want to be in a situation like that in the future.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) countered false claims that Covid-19 vaccines affect fertility in a recent Instagram post.

The post shows a graphic of a woman asking, “Is it safe for me to get a COVID-19 vaccine if I would like to have a baby one day?”

The caption answers, “Yes. People who are trying to become pregnant now or who might become pregnant in the future may receive a [Covid] vaccine. There is no evidence that fertility problems are a side effect of any vaccine, including COVID-19 vaccines.”