Public health officials are advising Los Angeles County residents of a spike in sicknesses as the holiday season comes to a close.  Those who gathered for the holidays and then traveled back are said to be the main spreaders, and while a rise in COVID-19 cases is typical, this year’s uptick also coincides with a rise in flu and RSV cases.  ..read more

There are a lot of good reasons to get vaccinated, but if you're an employee of the Los Angeles Unified School District, a requirement is no longer one of them. The LAUSD Board of Education dropped its COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Tuesday, almost exactly two years after it was first implemented, according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News. The 6-1 vote was opposed only by Board member George McKenna, who said the mandate "had saved lives and lessened the severity of the illness — and that it probably would still do so," the Los Angeles Times reports. Other school officials disagreed, wi ..read more

After a relatively calm summer, COVID-19 cases are on the rise across Los Angeles County, with the Department of Public Health reporting a rise in transmission for the fifth straight week.  According to the most recent data for L.A. County, hospitalization rates increased from around 250 per day in mid-July to 422 per day as of Aug. 18.  An average of 512 cases were reported countywide per day, which marked a 35% increase from the week before.  Despite the increase in hospitalizations, daily testing rates in L.A. County have remained relatively stable, with around 5,000 people r ..read more

(NEXSTAR) — As COVID-19 cases rise across the U.S. — and a new variant emerges —misinformation about treatment or prevention of the disease perseveres. In an effort to combat a flurry of recent social media posts touting the use of deworming drug ivermectin, the FDA is reminding people why it never approved it as a COVID-19 treatment. "Although FDA has approved ivermectin for certain uses in humans and animals, it has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19, nor has the agency stated that it is safe or effective for that use," the FDA said on its social ..read more

California's coronavirus emergency officially ends Tuesday, nearly three years after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the nation's first statewide stay-at-home order and just days after the state reached the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths related to the virus. As California's emergency winds down, such declarations continue in just five other states — including Texas and Illinois — signaling an end to the expanded legal powers of governors to suspend laws in response to the once mysterious disease. President Joe Biden announced last month the federal government will end its own version May ..read more

(NewsNation) — Concerns are growing nationwide for rapidly increasing cases of what health officials have deemed a tripledemic: the flu, RSV and COVID-19, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is once again urging the public to wear face masks indoors. According to the agency's Dec. 8 report, 13.7% of Americans now live in communities now rated "high" COVID-19 Community Levels, up from 4.9% of the population last week. An additional 38.1% of Americans are in "medium" areas and 48.2% are in "low" areas.  A number of major cities are now mulling a return to masking measures ..read more

If you felt like absolute garbage the day or two after your last COVID-19 vaccine, there's a silver lining for you. Feeling those side effects are a sign of a strong immune response, newly published research shows. The study, published last week in JAMA, looked at self-reported symptoms after vaccination among older American adults. It found people who reported more symptoms after an mRNA dose showed "greater antibody response" when compared to people who either felt nothing or only felt sore at the injection site ..read more

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, patients have reported dozens of different symptoms, ranging from cold and flu-like symptoms to more unique ones, including "COVID tongue." But like all viruses, the primary symptoms associated with COVID have changed and can vary based on your vaccination status, according to a new list released last week. The ZOE Health Study — a joint effort by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, King’s College London, Stanford University School of Medicine and the health app ZOE — shared an updated list ..read more

Cases of COVID-19 are on the rise again in some parts of the U.S., but what some think are symptoms of the coronavirus might actually be signs of strep throat, KTLA sister station PIX11 reports. The two ailments share some common symptoms, including fever, headache, sore throat and swollen lymph nodes. Dr. Matthew Weissman of Manhattan’s Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital joined PIX11 Morning News on Friday to share some helpful tips on identifying strep throat and how to treat it. “The big problem with strep is that risk that if it’s untreated, it can lead to other medical conditions, in partic ..read more

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday that California will be ending the COVID-19 state of emergency in February 2023. The governor's office announced that the state is planning to end the COVID-19 State of Emergency on February 28, 2023, nearly three years after it was declared. According to the governor’s office, this date allows the state to be prepared to handle possible surges during the winter and it provides local governments time to make any necessary changes. Administration officials said that California often sees surges in late fall and throughout the winter. This current ..read more