CDC to significantly ease pandemic mask guidelines Friday
CBSN
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, meaning most Americans will no longer be advised to wear masks in indoor public settings.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday will announce a change to the metrics it uses to determine whether to recommend face coverings, shifting from looking at COVID-19 case counts to a more holistic view of risk from the coronavirus to a community. Under current guidelines, masks are recommended for people residing in communities of substantial or high transmission — roughly 95% of U.S. counties, according to the latest data.
The new metrics will still consider caseloads, but also take into account hospitalizations and local hospital capacity, which have been markedly improved during the emergence of the omicron variant. That strain is highly transmissible, but indications are that it is less severe than earlier strains, particularly for people who are fully vaccinated and boosted. Under the new guidelines, the vast majority of Americans will no longer live in areas where indoor masking in public is recommended, based on current data.
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer as his nominee to lead the Labor Department.
President-elect Donald Trump on Friday announced hedge fund billionaire Scott Bessent as his pick for U.S. Treasury secretary, choosing a former executive with Soros Fund Management who in recent years has been a vocal supporter of the former president's policies, from tariffs to spending cuts.
Walmart must pay almost $35 million to one of its former truck drivers after a California jury found the retailer had falsely accused him of workers' compensation fraud and wrongfully terminated him.
Americans planning to do some holiday baking this year may have to scramble to track down a key ingredient.
Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday said it will consider the constitutionality of the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund, agreeing to review a lower court decision that upended the mechanism for funding programs that provide communications services to rural areas, low-income communities and schools, libraries and hospitals.
Just a week before Thanksgiving, shoppers at Stop & Shop stores across Massachusetts were forced to leave empty-handed after a cyberattack against the supermarket chain's parent company led to inventory shortages.
For the last seven years, Brazilian soccer legend Marta dreamed of playing in a National Women's Soccer League championship game.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida says he doesn't intend to return to Congress in January, after resigning from his seat and withdrawing from consideration as U.S. attorney general.
The United States on Friday announced sanctions against a former Colombian general it said was involved in extrajudicial killings of civilians falsely reported as combat deaths.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched six space tourists on a high-speed dash to the edge of space and back Friday, giving the passengers — including a husband and wife making their second flight — about three minutes of weightlessness and an out-of-this world view before the capsule made a parachute descent to touchdown at the company's west Texas flight facility.
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