Preparedness and Communications

The Washington Department of Health requires masks to be worn in indoor public settings and at large outdoor events with 500 or more attendees. The order covers grocery stores, event venues, restaurants, theaters, malls and places of worship.

“The CDC is recommending boosters for all adults. There is no reason to re-boost at this point. The COVID you have now is giving you natural immunity on top of your booster.”

Rhode Island, along with other states and regions, is experiencing a post-holiday surge in coronavirus disease. The latest estimates show that about 90% of new cases in Rhode Island are caused by the highly transmissible omicron variant.

To mitigate the effects of climate change and environmental racism that impact certain hotter and more polluted areas of the city, a group in Stockton, Calif., has secured funding from a state grant program.

“Omicron is here; it’s serious,” acting state Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase said during an online update Wednesday. “In another week or two, it will be 100 percent of the new cases in our state.”

With the omicron variant running wild even in vaccinated folks, it can’t hurt to have tests handy so we won’t have to wait in a long line at a clinic should testing be needed. Or scramble to find self tests.

Cases of COVID, including the latest omicron strain, are expected to climb. To address the problem, Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday allocated $100 million in emergency funding for urgent staffing needs at Maryland hospitals and nursing homes.

Instead of sandbags, a nearly 2,000-foot-long temporary wall of boxes made of chain-link, lined with fabric and filled with gravel, was placed between the highway and the railroad tracks for flood protection.

Warning sirens are meant to notify people who are outdoors, and they’re designed to be heard by people near open windows if the power goes out and televisions and cellphones aren’t working, officials said Tuesday.

Cases have been rising across the country, but the Northeast has been especially hard hit. Four New England states, including Maine, are in the top five states for new cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days.

One at a time, community members stepped up to a microphone to confront state, county and city decision-makers with difficult questions about what could have been done to reduce the impact of the mid-November storm.

“For many of us, the symptoms of COVID-19 can seem just like a cold, but for those members of our public who are most vulnerable, residents who are immune-compromised, older adults and those who are not vaccinated, symptoms can require hospitalization.”

Gary Peters, D- Bloomfield Township, introduced The Disclosing All Spending That Ensures Relief, or "Disaster" Act in the Senate Wednesday, Dec. 1. The bill would require federal agencies to track spending and relief expenditures on disasters.

On Tuesday, Jefferson County, N.Y also reported 165 positive tests. That's not a single-day record for the .county, but it represented 35% of all tests conducted that day, a record-high percentage.

The reservoir water, sometimes piped hundreds of miles across the state, serves 29 water agencies that contract for supplies. In total, more than 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland get at least some of their water from the project.