Mardi Gras 2022: ‘Fat Tuesday’ celebrations return as COVID-19 cases drop

New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, took center stage in celebrating Mardi Gras after the COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on last year’s celebrations.

Millions of Biden's free COVID at-home tests still unclaimed

Nearly half of the 500 million free COVID-19 tests that the Biden administration recently made available to Americans still haven’t been claimed as virus cases plummet and people feel less urgency to test.

New CDC mask guidance says many healthy Americans can finally unmask

Most Americans live in places where healthy people, including students in schools, can safely take a break from wearing masks under new U.S. guidelines released Friday.

CDC: Many healthy Americans can take a break from masks

The new system greatly changes the look of the CDC’s risk map and puts more than 70% of the U.S. population in counties where the coronavirus is posing a low or medium threat to hospitals. Those are the people who can stop wearing masks.

LA County allows businesses to make indoor masking optional for vaccinated customers

Establishments, businesses, and venues now have the option to allow fully vaccinated customers and workers to unmask indoors if they can provide proof of full vaccination against COVID-19.

CDC's COVID-19 mask guidelines to loosen Friday, AP sources say

The Biden administration will significantly loosen federal mask-wearing guidelines to protect against COVID-19 transmission on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Low student engagement major source of teacher stress, survey finds

Teachers say keeping students engaged is harder than ever with the COVID-19 pandemic and they’re looking for new ways to keep students interested.

Target drops mask mandate for employees, customers

Target will no longer require its employees or customers to wear masks inside its stores, subject to local rules.

Is omicron leading us closer to herd immunity against COVID-19? Experts weigh in

Experts say it's not likely that the highly transmissible omicron variant — or any other variant — will lead us closer to herd immunity against COVID-19.

Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Carnival cruise lines to ease mask mandates

Three major cruise lines are dropping onboard mask mandates as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to trend downward in the U.S.

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations trending downward in US

Public health experts say they are feeling hopeful that more declines are ahead and that the country is shifting from being in a pandemic to an ‘endemic’ that is more consistent and predictable.

Ivermectin does not prevent severe COVID-19 illness, study finds

A new study suggests that ivermectin, an anti-parasite drug, is not effective in preventing severe COVID-19 symptoms.

Navajo Nation maintains mask mandate as New Mexico drops it

The Navajo Nation implemented a mask mandate early on in the pandemic. Residents and visitors are required to wear masks in public, and schoolchildren also must mask up.

AZDHS to start reporting COVID-19 data on weekly basis

The Arizona Department of Health Services has decided to update the state's COVID-19 data on a weekly basis following a decline in cases and hospitalizations.