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COVID-19

State to text people who missed second shot

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Department of Health will carry out a text messaging campaign to encourage roughly 254,000 people in the state to follow through and get the second shot of the two-shot COVID-19 vaccine that they never received, officials said Thursday. The campaign will begin early next week as the resurgent coronavirus in the form of the highly contagious delta variant is skyrocketing cases in Pennsylvania and across the nation. Meanwhile, the state’s acting health secretary, Alison Beam, reiterated that a statewide masking mandate is not currently being ...

CDC changes course on indoor mask guidelines

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed course Tuesday on some masking guidelines, recommending that even vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in parts of the U.S. where the delta variant of the coronavirus is fueling infection surges. Citing new information about the variant’s ability to spread among vaccinated people, the CDC also recommended indoor masks for all teachers, staff, students and visitors at schools nationwide, regardless of vaccination status. In other developments, President Joe Biden said his administration was considering requiring all ...

No mask mandate, but state urged to follow guidance

HARRISBURG (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday that he is not considering a statewide mask mandate as coronavirus cases surge in Pennsylvania and across the country, while his administration said it is not requiring masks in schools. Wolf, speaking on KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh, said his strategy to fight the spread of COVID-19 has been the vaccine, and will continue to be. The masking mandate was for when there was no vaccine, Wolf said. “People have the ability, each individual to make the decision to get a vaccine,” Wolf said. “If they do, that’s the protection.” Wolf’s ...

Unvaccinated snow leopard diagnosed with COVID-19

SAN DIEGO — An unvaccinated snow leopard at the San Diego Zoo has contracted COVID-19. Caretakers noticed that Ramil, a 9-year-old male snow leopard, had a cough and runny nose on Thursday. Later, two separate tests of his stool confirmed the presence of the coronavirus, the zoo said in a ...

COVID-19 statistics slightly worse in area

The COVID-19 situation in six local counties seems to be worsening a bit, although it is nowhere near as critical as it was several months ago. For a majority of the local counties, the numbers are worse this week in new cases and test positivity. The number of new cases were up in four of the six counties. Blair had 11 new cases, nine more than last week; Centre had 29 new cases, up 10 from last week; Clearfield had 16 new cases, nine more than last week; and Bedford had three new cases, one more than last week. Conversely, Cambria had five new cases, three fewer than last ...

Schools confront more polarization with mask rules

Students in Wichita, Kansas, public schools can ditch the masks when classes begin. Detroit public schools will probably require them unless everyone in a room is vaccinated. In Pittsburgh, masks will likely be required regardless of vaccination status. And in some states, schools cannot ...