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German lawmakers vote to abolish most pandemic restrictions 03/18/2022 10:54am • BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers voted Friday to abolish most of the country's coronavirus pandemic restrictions despite a surge in infections, with almost 300,000 new daily cases reported. The Bundestag passed an amendment to the pandemic rules in a 364-277 vote with two abstentions. The upper hous Italy marks 2nd anniversary of haunting COVID-19 milestone 03/18/2022 10:10am • ROME (AP) — Italy on Friday marked the second anniversary of a tragic milestone of the coronavirus pandemic: the day when a convoy of army trucks had to transport the dead out of hard-hit Bergamo because the city’s cemeteries and crematoria were full. Premier Mario Draghi opened a press conferen Thailand drops pre-arrival COVID test for foreign visitors 03/18/2022 10:10am • BANGKOK (AP) — Visitors vaccinated for COVID-19 will no longer need a test before traveling to Thailand starting April 1, health officials said Friday. Visitors will still need to take a RT-PCR test upon arrival and a self-administered rapid antigen test on the fifth day in the country, said Tawe China weighs exit from 'zero COVID' and the risks involved 03/18/2022 07:54am • BEIJING (AP) — Even as authorities lock down cities in China's worst outbreak in two years, they are looking for an exit from what has been a successful but onerous COVID-19 prevention strategy. A study, interviews with Chinese public health staff and recent public messaging by government-affiliat Hong Kong's COVID infections exceed 1 million amid outbreak 03/18/2022 07:30am • HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s cumulative coronavirus infections have exceeded 1 million as the city grapples with a widespread outbreak that has killed more people than the reported COVID-19 deaths in all of mainland China. Health officials reported 20,079 confirmed infections on Friday, taking t What is Title 42, the COVID border policy Democrats want Biden to end? 03/18/2022 06:00am • ▶ Watch Video: President Biden pushes for immigration reform Despite making some changes to U.S. border policy, the Biden administration has maintained the most sweeping border restriction enacted by former President Donald Trump: a pandemic-era order known as Title 42 that has led to The AP Interview: Health chief warns of COVID funds shortage 03/18/2022 12:44am • WASHINGTON (AP) — With the nation yearning for a new normal after its long struggle with the coronavirus, U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra warned Thursday that vaccines, tests and treatments will be “stuck on the ground” unless Congress provides the additional funds the White House has dem Russia-Ukraine war: Key things to know about the conflict 03/18/2022 12:41am • Russian forces largely bogged down outside major cities in Ukraine have turned to shelling them from a distance, including dozens of confirmed attacks on health facilities during the war that on Thursday entered its fourth week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nighttime video add Facing its first COVID outbreak, Samoa goes on lockdown 03/18/2022 12:37am • WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Samoa will go into lockdown from Saturday as it faces its first outbreak of COVID-19 after a woman who was about to leave the country tested positive. Although health authorities have so far found just a single case, it is the first time Samoa has found any unexplain Biden's St. Patrick's Day scrambled by Irish PM's COVID case 03/17/2022 09:45pm • WASHINGTON (AP) — Call him a disappointed extrovert. President Joe Biden had to settle for meeting virtually Thursday with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin after the visiting leader’s positive test for COVID-19 scrambled plans to mark St. Patrick’s Day at the White House. “I'm really dee The AP Interview: Health chief warns of COVID funds shortage 03/17/2022 09:32pm • WASHINGTON (AP) — With the nation yearning for a new normal after its long struggle with the coronavirus, U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra warned Thursday that vaccines, tests and treatments will be “stuck on the ground” unless Congress provides the additional funds the White House has dem Severity of 'stealth omicron' varies by country's vaccination rate 03/17/2022 08:38pm • As many COVID-19 mitigation measures have been lifted in the D.C. area, a mutant of the virus has been emerging and is now causing a new wave of omicron cases around the world. It's called BA.2, and it's been described as "stealth omicron" because "it lacks a genetic quirk of the original omicron Canada says no test results needed for vaccinated travelers 03/17/2022 06:35pm • VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Canadian government’s announcement it is dropping the requirement for vaccinated travelers to show a negative COVID-19 test result to enter the country was greeted with relief by tourism and business groups on both sides of the border Thursday. Health Minis St. Patrick's Day parades turn pandemic blues Irish green 03/17/2022 04:40pm • NEW YORK (AP) — St. Patrick’s Day celebrations across the country are back after a two-year hiatus, including the nation’s largest in New York City, in a sign of growing hope that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic may be over. The holiday served as a key marker in the outbreak's progressio Biden COVID coordinators leaving in April, Jha to take over 03/17/2022 04:19pm • WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients and his deputy Natalie Quillian are leaving the administration next month, the White House announced Thursday. They will be replaced by Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. Zients, an expe