Flight cancellations continue due to bad weather, sick crews
Airlines have canceled roughly 4,000 flights to, from or inside the U.S. since Friday. Delta, United, JetBlue and American have all said that the coronavirus was causing staffing problems.
Public Health
Articles
COVID outbreaks taking toll on college football bowls
The Fenway Bowl and Military Bowl were both canceled due to the pandemic on Sunday, and the University of Miami withdrew from the Sun Bowl.
COVID-19 variant disrupts holiday travel, but not shopping
Globally, airlines scrapped more than 2,700 flights as of Sunday evening, nearing the more than 2,800 cancellations the day before.
Anger over mask mandates, other COVID rules, spurs states to curb power of public health officials
At least 19 states, including Indiana, have this year restricted state or local authorities from safeguarding public health amid the coronavirus pandemic.
IU Health caring for record number of COVID-19 patients, gets help from Navy team
The state’s largest hospital system said Thursday it has resorted to turning conference rooms into patient wards as it adds hundreds of beds across its 16 hospitals.
COVID surge leads to contingency plans for football championship game in Indy
If a new surge of COVID-19 ends up spreading wildly through college football’s top teams, a contingency plan would allow a champion to be crowned without the championship game ever being played in Indianapolis on Jan. 10 as planned.
AG Rokita sues Biden administration over preschool masks, vaccine mandates
Indiana and 23 other states filed the suit to stop rules that require students as young as 2 years old to wear masks if they attend a preschool program funded by Head Start.
U.S. Navy sending team to Methodist Hospital to help with rising COVID-19 cases
Medical personnel from the Navy team will include physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists. The move comes at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency as Indiana hospitals warn they’re reaching capacity.
Biden will try to rally exhausted Americans against omicron threat
In a speech Tuesday, Biden will outline plans to expand coronavirus testing sites across the country, distribute a half-billion free at-home tests and deploy more federal health resources to aid strained hospitals, including emergency teams bound for Indiana.
Indiana hospitals make plea to Hoosiers: ‘The situation is dire’
Three large hospital systems are asking Hoosiers in a multipronged media campaign to get fully vaccinated and wear masks. It’s the latest signal that hospitals are facing a tipping point in the pandemic.
IBJ Podcast: Kids, COVID and Christmas … what’s safe?
Host Mason King talks with Dr. James Wood, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Riley Children’s Health, to talk about vaccinations for children, how latest strains of coronavirus are affecting younger kids and whether it’s safe for grandkids to gather with their grandparents at the holidays.
Indiana identifies first case of omicron variant of COVID-19
Although confirmation of the high contagious strain was confirmed this weekend, the specimen was collected 10 days ago.
Explainer: Must employers follow Biden’s vaccine mandates?
Tens of millions of workers across the U.S. are in limbo as federal courts have put President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates affecting private companies largely on hold. Here’s where everything stands.
CDC recommends Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 shots over J&J’s
The strange clotting problem has caused nine confirmed deaths after J&J vaccinations—while the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines don’t come with that risk and also appear more effective, said advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Indiana reports 55 more deaths from COVID-19, rise in cases
COVID-19 patients now occupy 35.4% of Indiana’s intensive care unit beds.
State reports 87 more COVID deaths, another rise in hospitalizations
Indiana University Health, the state’s largest hospital system, said Wednesday that the Indiana National Guard was supporting 13 of its 16 hospitals statewide with six-person teams.
NBA, players’ union considering return to daily testing
There were 33 players known to be in the league’s health and safety protocols as of Wednesday evening, along with two head coaches—Indiana’s Rick Carlisle and Sacramento interim coach Alvin Gentry—and a number of other staffers.
Colleges go back to drawing board—again—to fight virus
Facing rising infections and a new COVID-19 variant, colleges across the U.S. have once again been thwarted in seeking a move to normalcy and are starting to require booster shots, extend mask mandates, limit social gatherings and, in some cases, revert to online classes.
Biden’s plan for covering OTC virus testing has retro approach
Omicron is not the only reason testing is taking on renewed importance. Anticipated approval of antiviral pills that COVID patients can take at home is also expected to increase demand for fast tests that can provide reliable results.
Indiana COVID-19 hospitalizations surge again; 90 more deaths reported
As the Delta variant wreaks havoc in Indiana, CDC officials on Tuesday said the omicron variant is rapidly spreading in the United States and could peak in a massive wave of infections as soon as January.