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Covid-19

COVID hospitalizations likely to rise

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s record high COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations could peak in late January or early February before beginning to drop, state health officials said Tuesday, while urging residents to help control the height of the crest. “We have a choice to make: Do we want to work on bringing that peak down or do we just want to let this omicron surge explode?” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state’s chief medical executive, who estimated the variant accounts for around 90% of infections in some regions. Health leaders, who are reluctant to reinstate ...

Wisconsin GOP touts concept opposed by medical groups

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican lawmakers are advancing a bill that would require employers to count a prior COVID-19 infection as an alternative to vaccination and testing. The Wisconsin State Journal reported that the measure came up for a public hearing Tuesday. Republican lawmakers and bill supporters spent most of the hearing testifying about how they consider natural immunity resulting from an infection to be at least as effective as being vaccinated. No one spoke against the bill but several Wisconsin medical groups oppose it, including the Wisconsin Medical Society. They ...

Omicron may be headed for a rapid drop in US and Britain

Scientists are seeing signals that COVID-19’s alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the U.S., at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically. The reason: The variant has proved so wildly contagious that it may already be running out of ...

State lists more than 1K new UP virus cases in 3 days

State data Monday showed the Upper Peninsula added more than 1,000 confirmed COVID-19 positives in the past three days but only one new death, a likely indication of the highly transmissible omicron variant taking hold in the region. Figures on the Michigan Department of Health and Human ...

COVID-19 hospitalizations reach new high in Michigan

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan hospitals reported a record number of COVID-19 patients Monday, surpassing the peak from nearly a month ago before the state’s daily already-high infection counts surged to new heights due to the more contagious omicron variant. Roughly 4,900 people were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of the virus, including 4,580 adults with a positive test. The previous pandemic high for adults with a confirmed infection was 4,518 on Dec. 13, before a two-week decline and then an increase that started after Christmas. Michigan had six COVID-19 ...

Insurers to begin covering home COVID tests starting Saturday

WASHINGTON (AP) — Starting Saturday, private health insurers will be required to cover up to eight home COVID-19 tests per month for people on their plans. The Biden administration announced the change Monday as it looks to lower costs and make testing for the virus more convenient amid rising frustrations. Under the new policy, first detailed to the AP, Americans will be able to either purchase home testing kits for free under their insurance or submit receipts for the tests for reimbursement, up to the monthly per-person limit. A family of four, for instance, could be reimbursed ...