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President Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Tuesday and will wear a mask while around others indoors after first lady Jill Biden tested positive for the virus a day earlier, the White House said. The first lady is experiencing “mild symptoms” after testing positive Monday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. She will remain in Delaware to quarantine. The president was tested for the virus Monday and again Tuesday, and he tested negative both days. He is not experiencing any symptoms, Jean-Pierre said. Biden “will be masking while indoors and while around people, in alignment with CDC guidance,” Jean-Pierre said,...

School is back across the country, so let's survey the landscape of both higher and lower education. At the University of Michigan, students who test positive for COVID are being forced into off-campus quarantine -- like something out of 2021. They may not attend classes, and they may not remain in their dorm rooms, "even if they are in a single room." Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford writes, "students testing covid positive must leave their dorms for 5 days & live in the community. A hotel room or a relative's house is ok. This cruel policy is designed to spread...

The Atlanta college that reinstated its mask mandate in August confirmed that it has ended the rule after two weeks. Morris Brown College, described as a historically black liberal arts college, stated in mid-August that it would reimpose mask mandates amid what it said was a rise in COVID-19 cases on campuses near where it’s located. That rule was scheduled to end on Sept. 3. In a statement to Newsweek, college President Kevin James confirmed that the rule had ended. However, the school will still “have several safety protocols in place,” he said. Parties and large events will still be...

In a blow to the COVID-19 "silent spreader" narrative that has been used to push for universal masking, including controversially among schoolchildren, a recent study published in The Lancet suggests that people who are non-symptomatic rarely have the ability to infect others. Silent transmission is the idea that those who are infected with COVID-19 but show no symptoms can still spread the virus to other people. While all relevant studies show that presymptomatic and asymptomatic "silent spreaders" account for some proportion of infections in other people, the degree of silent transmission is less clear. A number of early studies—in some...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has responded to speculation that the agency could be bringing back mask mandates on public transportation or in federal officials. A spokesperson for the CDC told The Epoch Times on Aug. 29 that COVID-19 hospital admission levels "are currently low for more than 96 percent" of the United States, but that the agency recommended that transportation workers, travelers, passengers, and others get the COVID-19 vaccine "before they travel." "Anyone may choose to wear a mask in crowded or poorly ventilated indoor areas, including on public transportation and in transportation hubs at...

the incredible dumbing down of the American public ... Masks ... Nothing sums up the dumbing down of America better than the image of a person driving alone in his car, all masked up. Vaccines.. The COVID vaccines were — and remain — experimental. First we were told that if you take the vax, you can't get COVID. That was wrong. Then we were told that if you take the vax and a booster, you can't get or transmit COVID. That was wrong. Then we were told that if you get double-boosted, you'll be protected from all future variants. That...

COVID cases are on the rise in Illinois and across the U.S., and while that has led some to bring back mask requirements or mandates, could public health guidance soon follow? Already, some U.S. schools and businesses have started bringing back mask mandates. Morris Brown College in Atlanta announced last week that it was reinstating its mask mandate "due to reports of positive cases among students." A mask mandate was also reinstated for several employees at Lionsgate headquarters in Santa Monica, according to an internal memo obtained by the Los Angeles Times. The Illinois Department of Public Health warned Friday...

(NEXSTAR) – The COVID-19 public health emergency may be over, but the spread of the virus sure isn’t. COVID hospital admissions jumped another 21% last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The summer surge has some people – who haven’t donned a COVID mask in months – wondering if they should dust off their N95s. We asked three medical doctors if they thought the rising cases and hospitalizations meant masks are needed now. For Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF, the rationale hasn’t really changed. “Masking remains an inexpensive and portable way to reduce risk...

Amid rising COVID cases and hospitalizations throughout the country, several hospital systems or hospitals have reinstated mask-wearing requirements for patients and staff, as reported by Becker’s Hospital Review. These announcements come as COVID-related hospitalizations have risen 21.6% in the most recent week and deaths have risen 21.4%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The numbers, however, are still far below the levels that were seen during the pandemic. As of Aug. 25, the following hospitals and health systems are now requiring masks, as confirmed by Fox News Digital.

A study published in April found disposable masks can have toxic chemicals. Experts said this could make newly instated mask mandates ineffective. Mask mania sweeps America...AGAIN. The surgical N95 mask has been held up as the gold standard when it comes to protecting against Covid. But a study quietly re-shared by the National Institutes of Health in spring suggests the tight-fitting mask may expose users to dangerous levels of toxic chemicals. Researchers from Jeonbuk National University in South Korea looked at two types of disposable medical-grade masks, as well as several reusable cotton masks. The study found that the chemicals...

Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa, California, on Aug. 24 reversed a recent policy that would require masks in its facility after it reinstated the mandate days before. A Hollywood studio also said it would do away with its mandate. Officials for the hospital system told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that the mask policy applies only to staff, not patients. It said that it is “strongly encouraging masks for patients, members, and visitors in the hospital and medical offices in the Santa Rosa Service Area in response to this latest increase in COVID-19 cases.” “Our intent was to communicate that...

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo harshly criticized COVID-19 mask mandates and lockdowns, and urged people to consider "refusing to participate." "What do you call re-imposing mask policies that have been proven ineffective or restarting lockdowns that are known to cause harm? You don't call it sanity," Dr. Ladapo posted last week on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. "These terrible policies only work with your cooperation. How about refusing to participate…" Some schools and companies are implementing mask mandates amid a rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations, even though some peer-reviewed research has suggested that face coverings may cause...

The headlines have returned: a new COVID variant may lead to the renaissance of enthusiasm for mask mandates. Though some may be thinking, “Not again,” there are many who never stopped living as they did in those two years when fear—symbolized by the face covering worn alone while driving vehicles and even when exercising—became a religion heralded by media and public health officials. However, Priscilla Romans, a former nurse and now a patient advocate, told The Epoch Times that there’s a better way. “People need to be empowered to take their health care back into their own hands so that...

First things first: if you want to wear a mask, go ahead. Nobody is stopping you. If you believe they work, have at it.Obviously, people who wear masks think they provide protection from infection. And it is hard to imagine that anybody wearing masks to protect against COVID in 2023 isn’t vaxxed to the max. A new booster is coming out soon, too.You have your COVID armor, right?So why the push to reinstate mask mandates?It literally makes no sense if you believe that masks and vaccines work. And if you don’t believe they work, why push a mask mandate at...

A judge has been handed a two-year suspended prison sentence, accused of 'perverting the law' after ordering schools in Germany not to enforce lockdown regulations during the pandemic. Christian Dettmar, 60, ruled in 2021 that two schools in Weimar, Thuringia should not have to enforce national lockdown guidance for children, including wearing masks while at school, testing for infection and keeping socially distanced. Dettmar had already been suspended on probation pending the investigation, losing 25 per cent of his salary, and had his mobile phone and laptop confiscated after a police raid on his flat. The family court judge's decision...

COVID-19 cases are expected to rise this fall as new variants become more prevalent. And, as unfortunately expected, it’s already triggered demands by some of our more zealous public health enforcers, not to mention some teachers’ unions, to reinstate mitigation measures including mandatory masking. Some researchers are already recommending that when cases go up, people will need to wear masks indoors again. ... None of this incipient hysteria is warranted. The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 is, as expected, continuing to mutate. The EG.5 variant is the most common US strain now, making up an estimated 21% of new infections...

As a new Covid variant emerges, pandemic-era guidelines including social distancing and mask mandates are popping back up in some places Morris Brown College is a private liberal arts school in Atlanta, Georgia where both students and employees are now being required to wear masks in crowded areas such as hallways and classrooms for at least two weeks. Reports of positive cases among the student body have driven concerns that the new variant is going to cause a renewed boom in Covid cases not just within the college but around the country. This also means that there will be no...

There are reports circulating that colleges and offices are beginning to reinstate COVID mask mandates and contact tracing despite no new cases of the virus being reported.The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday that Morris Brown College, a black private liberal arts college has reinstated the measures as part of a “precautionary step.” The report notes that students and staff will all be asked to mask up while on campus, only one week after classes began.A communication issued by the college claims there have been “reports of positive cases among students in the Atlanta University Center,” a consortium of black colleges and...

TLANTA (WUPA) -- Atlanta-based Morris Brown College has announced that the school is reinstating its Covid mask mandate for the next two weeks as a result of positive cases at the Atlanta University Center. The historically black college posted a note on its official Instagram account noting that the protocols would be in effect for the next 14 days. This includes a requirement for mask-wearing by students and employees, physical distancing, contact tracing, and other significant efforts to reduce the spread of Covid-19 among the population on the Atlanta campus.

Major Hollywood studio Lionsgate has brought back mask mandates to nearly half its employees amid a spike in COVID-19 cases. Sommer McElroy, response manager for Lionsgate/Starz, announced the new policy in an internal memo obtained by Deadline after several employees tested positive. “Employees must wear a medical grade face covering (surgical mask, KN95 or N95) when indoors except when alone in an office with the door closed, actively eating, actively drinking at their desk or workstation, or if they are the only individual present in a large open workspace,” he wrote, according to the outlet. The mandate will be in...