WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army said Wednesday it will immediately begin discharging soldiers who have refused to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine, putting more than 3,300 service members at risk of being thrown out soon. The Army's announcement makes it the final military service to lay out its discharge policy for vaccine refusers. The Marine [...]
LOUIS (AP) — Angela Stamps won't drink water from her faucet, showers less and no longer takes the baths she once found relaxing. She doesn't cook with tap water and sometimes skips rinsing her produce. Even though the amount of lead in Flint, Mich.'s tap water has been well below a key state threshold for [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency announced a series of enforcement actions Wednesday designed to address air pollution, unsafe drinking water and other problems afflicting minority communities in three Gulf Coast states, following a "Journey to Justice" tour by Administrator Michael Regan last fall. The agency will conduct unannounced inspections of chemical plants, refineries [...]
The late Pamela Hixon of Leipsic, Ohio, was eager to retire from her job running a hospice agency. Soon after she quit, however, Hixon spiraled into depression and anxiety. She sought help from counselors and her pastor, but it wasn't enough. Six months after retiring, she took her own life. "She lost purpose, she lost [...]
Vanessa Akinniyi was stuck in denial about diabetes until a care manager from her health insurer coaxed her out. The Jacksonville, Fla., resident didn't want to start insulin. All the medicines she tried made her sick. But Florida Blue care manager Miriam Bercier chipped away with phone check-ins. The nurse fed Akinniyi information about her [...]
Officials across the country are again weighing how and whether to impose mask mandates as COVID-19 infections soar and the American public grows ever wearier of pandemic-related restrictions. Much of the debate centers around the nation's schools, some of which have closed due to infection-related staffing issues. In a variety of places, mask mandates are [...]
Health authorities around the country are increasingly taking the extraordinary step of allowing nurses and other workers infected with the coronavirus to stay on the job if they have mild symptoms or none at all. The move is a reaction to the severe hospital staffing shortages and crushing caseloads that the omicron variant is causing. [...]
WASHINGTON — 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 this week as it looks to lower costs and make testing for the virus more convenient amid rising frustrations. Under the new policy, first [...]
As the raging omicron variant of COVID-19 infects workers across the nation, millions of those whose jobs don't provide paid sick days are having to choose between their health and their paycheck. While many companies instituted more robust sick leave policies at the beginning of the pandemic, some of those have since been scaled back [...]
Hospitals across the country are feeling the wrath of the omicron variant and getting thrown into disarray that is different from earlier COVID-19 surges. This time, they are dealing with serious staff shortages because so many health care workers are getting sick with the fast-spreading variant. People are showing up at emergency rooms in large [...]