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President Trump signed an executive order Friday to defund schools and other education agencies that require COVID-19 vaccines for students and staff. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the head of the Department of Education are directed to create a plan to end these mandates and end federal funding for entities that do not comply. Plans for the executive action were first reported Friday by Breitbart. The order helps Trump fulfill his campaign to end the mandates many schools enacted after the COVID-19 vaccines were developed and as cases were ravaging the country under his first...

Official figures reveal that infections cause by flu, Covid, RSV (a respiratory illness that causes the cold) and norovirus (sometimes called the stomach flu) all started to surge over the Christmas period, when families gathered to celebrate. And experts say figures will only continue to rise over the coming weeks as the US heads into the peak period of its annual flu season. Data shows that norovirus cases are at their highest level for this time of year since 2012, while RSV hospitalizations are up nearly 40 percent in two weeks. An estimated 3.1million people have been sickened by the...

A quadruple-whammy of viruses are hitting the US as millions go back to work after the holidays, data shows. Official figures reveal that infections cause by flu, Covid, RSV (a respiratory illness that causes the cold) and norovirus (sometimes called the stomach flu) all started to surge over the Christmas period, when families gathered to celebrate. And experts say figures will only continue to rise over the coming weeks as the US heads into the peak period of its annual flu season. Data shows that norovirus cases are at their highest level for this time of year since 2012, while...

A former Laramie High School student who was arrested over a dispute over masking had her lawsuit against the local school district revived Tuesday. It had been dismissed by a lower court in 2023... The former Laramie High School student who sued her school district for having her arrested after she refused to wear a mask has standing and can keep waging her lawsuit, an appeals court ruled Tuesday. Grace Smith and her parents Andy and Erin Smith sued the Albany County School District in August 2023, in federal court, over the district’s 2021 mask mandate. Smith had refused to...

OAKLAND, Calif. - Mask mandates are returning to several Bay Area counties as an increase in COVID-19 cases overlaps with the cold and flu season. The local health orders require masks to be worn in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and other healthcare facilities, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and Napa counties have reinstated the mask requirements.

A discarded mask lay on a sidewalk in Orange, Calif., on June 19, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)People who wore protective masks were found to be more likely to contract COVID-19 infections than those who didn't, according to a recent Norwegian study.The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal Epidemiology and Infection on Nov. 13, analyzed mask use among 3,209 individuals from Norway. Researchers followed them for 17 days, and then asked the participants about their use of masks. The team found that there was a higher incidence of testing positive for COVID-19 among people who used masks more frequently.Among individuals...

Some California college students are fighting to have mask mandates reinstated amid ongoing discussions around the return to some COVID-19 precautions. Last week, the Disabled Students Union (DSU) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), announced on Instagram that a proposed resolution titled "A Resolution to Mandate Masking, Weekly PCR testing, and Upcoming COVID-19 Vaccines, and to Improve Ventilation, and Reinstate the COVID-19 Task Force" failed to receive enough votes from the university's Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC). Some of the main aspects of the resolution proposed by the DSU included mask requirements for indoor and crowded outdoor spaces,...

Seems like COVID's everywhere again. But here's good news from Pfizer! This season's updated COVID-19 shots are now available for ages 6 months and up, and they're designed to help protect against recent variants. That is why today, at 8pm, the Empire State Building turned its iconic building blue to announce that the CDC recommends everyone 6 months of age and older get this season's updated COVID-19 shot. The blue light symbolizes our gratitude and appreciation for the updated vaccines and all those who made it possible.

A medical group issued a warning this week about wearing masks for respiratory viruses such as COVID-19, arguing that studies show they don't prevent their spread and instead violate patients' rights to informed consent. "As mask mandates are contrary to the fundamental medical principle of informed consent, all masking mandates currently in place must be rescinded, and no future mandates should be imposed," the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a longtime conservative-aligned medical group, said in a statement, likely responding to recent hospital mask mandates that were reimposed in August. The group made reference to research, including a recent...

Join Reason on YouTube and Facebook at 1 p.m. Eastern this Thursday for a discussion with Aaron Kheriaty, author of The New Abnormal about the persistent COVID mandates for K-12 schools, college campuses and health care settings.It's back-to-school season, and for some parts of the country, that means dealing with COVID restrictions again. Americans are no longer experiencing indefinite school closures or ubiquitous masking, but intermittent school closures, temporary mask mandates, and COVID vaccine requirements persist. Will it ever end? Or are we in "the new abnormal?" That's what Aaron Kheriaty, a psychiatrist and fellow and director of the Program...

Esparto High School near Sacramento confirmed it canceled a game after it said six players tested positive for COVID-19. Two California high schools have confirmed that they canceled football games because of COVID-19 cases among students. Esparto High School near Sacramento confirmed that it canceled a game after it stated that six players tested positive for COVID-19. It also stated that multiple players were also injured and that it didn't have enough players for a game. This comes as there have been concerns that virus-related rules might be reimplemented in the coming months. ... Hundreds of miles away, a high...

A city in California voted Wednesday to ban universal COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates, according to CBS News. Huntington Beach City Council Mayor Pro Tempore Gracey Van Der Mark introduced the motion Tuesday night at the meeting to ban the mandates, according to the motion. Huntington Beach, California’s city council voted 4-3 to ban universal mask mandates and vaccine mandates in the city, though the mandate ban excludes those who have tested positive for COVID-19, according to CBS News. COVID-19 mandates “unnecessarily limited the freedoms of the citizens of Huntington Beach — even those who were not around anyone who...

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...

Health officials in California recently spoke about the possible return of mask mandates in the state amid a slight uptick in COVID-19 cases. On Thursday, officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health held a press conference to speak about a rise in new COVID-19 cases, saying that over the past week cases have doubled. During the press conference, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer was asked about the potential return to mask mandates and if the county would ever make them mandatory again. "'Ever' is not a word I'm comfortable with. There's...

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...

A 'we will not comply' movement is slowly formulating across social media, spurred by Donald Trump's renewed focus on mask mandates and COVID-affiliated lockdowns that he initiated at the pandemic's inception. Trump, in a video posted Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter, vowed to reject any "fearmongering" of new coronavirus variants and if elected president pledged to cut federal funding for entities like schools and airlines that follow such protocols. Trump was the individual who set the original mandates and lockdowns in motion, however, when coronavirus cases escalated exponentially starting in March 2020. At the time, he urged individuals to avoid...

Mask mandates re-emerge amid COVID uptick Several masking requirements have popped up around the country in recent weeks. But despite the uptick in COVID-19 cases, don’t expect another federal mandate. A few schools, hospitals and businesses scattered around the country have brought back masking requirements in response to spikes in COVID-19 cases in their regions. Morris Brown College in Atlanta issued a two-week, precautionary mask mandate for its students and employees despite no cases being detected on campus yet. The move was informed by some positive cases detected around the Atlanta University Center, a consortium of four historically Black colleges...

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...

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...