COVID-19 Update

Starting to look like the winter wave is already here.

There's a fair probability that we'll be at 800,000 dead Americans before the end of December.

WaPo: (freebie)

Omicron prompts U.S. to prepare tighter travel restrictions

The United States is preparing to require all inbound international travelers to be tested for the coronavirus one day before departure, regardless of vaccination status, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said late Tuesday.

The Biden administration is also considering a requirement for a second test within three to five days of arrival, and possibly requiring travelers to quarantine for seven days — precautions that have been enacted in other countries but would be a first in the United States at the federal level.

The World Health Organization warned Tuesday that in light of the omicron variant, people who are not fully vaccinated or have not recovered from covid-19, as well as people age 60 or older and those at high risk of severe illness from covid-19, should postpone travel to places where the virus is spreading. Those places now include much of the world, as countries across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia battle surges in cases.

Here’s what to know

• A group of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration advised the agency to authorize a coronavirus pill to prevent high-risk people from developing severe illness. The pill, molnupiravir by pharmaceutical giant Merck, could provide a simple, easy-to-administer tool to reduce the strain on hospitals.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has significantly expanded its recommendations for booster shots, saying that all adults 18 and older should get them.