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Windstar Cruises is joining the list of cruise operators canceling soon-to-depart sailings amid the worldwide surge in COVID-19 cases. The small-ship cruise specialist on Thursday began notifying passengers on upcoming trips that it was pausing operations across most of its fleet through at least Jan. 28. The pause will affect every Windstar ship currently operating except the Tahiti-based Star Breeze. For more cruise guides, tips and news, sign up for TPG’s cruise newsletter Also canceling a significant number of sailings on Thursday for the first time during the latest surge of COVID-19 cases was British line Fred. Olsen Cruises. The...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has ditched the Big Apple for sunny south Florida, prompting supporters of the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, to hope she was “enjoying a taste of freedom.” The far-left “Squad” member was pictured hoisting a cocktail and checking her phone ​with an unknown companion ​at a table outside of ​the ​Doraku Izakaya and Sushi​ restaurant in Miami Beach, according to images obtained by National Review and published late Thursday. Ocasio-Cortez’s winter getaway comes as New York City is experiencing record-high numbers of COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, with officials reporting more than 40,000 new...

COVID means fear, control, and lockdowns because we’ve allowed people to make it mean fear, control, and lockdowns. D.C. Health is giving out “Home COVID-19 Testing Kits” at libraries across the capital city. At the majority of these sites, you’ll be handed two plastic, red, white, and blue envelopes per person. “Muriel Bowser, Mayor,” they read at the bottom. “Testyourselfdc.com.” “Isn’t that wonderful!” you might be thinking, as you tear open the seal. “I want to be sure these winter sniffles aren’t COVID before I see my mother, or visit grandpa, or go away with some friends.” Inside the envelopes,...

Justice Brett Kavanaugh has tested positive for Covid-19, the Supreme Court said Friday. Kavanaugh, who is fully vaccinated, tested positive on Thursday night, the court said in a statement, and his immediate family tested negative. He has no symptoms, the court said.

Florida is requesting hundreds of ventilators from the federal government after a surge in COVID-19 across the state, according to a Department of Health and Human Services planning document obtained by ABC News affiliate Local 10. The request was made on Friday for 300 ventilators “to replace expended state stores,” the document said. It was not clear how the ventilators would be allocated but they were expected to arrive in the state on Monday, according to the outlet. The request comes as Florida is seeing more coronavirus cases and hospitalizations as the delta variant spreads mostly among unvaccinated individuals.

Gov. Greg Abbott appealed for out-of-state help Monday to fight the third wave of COVID-19 in Texas. The request came as a county-owned hospital in Houston raised tents to accommodate their COVID-19 overflow. Private hospitals in the county already were requiring their staff to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.... ...Abbott has directed the Texas Department of State Health Services to use staffing agencies to find additional medical staff from beyond the state’s borders as the delta wave began to overwhelm its present staffing resources. He also has sent a letter to the Texas Hospital Association to request that hospitals postpone...

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A day after it recorded the most new daily cases since the start of the pandemic, Florida on Sunday broke a previous record for current hospitalizations, as the number of patients in hospitals because of COVID-19 once again broke through the 1,000-person threshold.The Sunshine State had 10,207 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to data reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.The previous record was from more than a year ago, July 23, 2020, more than a half-year before vaccinations started becoming widespread, when Florida had 10,170 hospitalizations, according to the Florida...

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) announced on Facebook Sunday evening that he and his wife had contracted COVID-19 for the second time, calling it "far more challenging." “I have COVID, Becca has COVID, my son has COVID. Becca and I had COVID before, early on, in January 2020, before the world really knew what it was. So, this is our second experience with the CCP biological attack weaponized virus… and this episode is far more challenging. It has required all of my devoted energy,” he wrote...

A conservative talk radio host from Tennessee who had been a vaccine skeptic until he was hospitalized from COVID-19 now says his listeners should get vaccinated. Phil Valentine’s brother, Mark Valentine, spoke at length on WWTN-FM in Nashville on Thursday about his brother’s condition, saying he is in a critical care unit on supplemental oxygen, but not on a ventilator. Phil Valentine has had an afternoon talk radio show on the station for years. “First of all, he’s regretful that he wasn’t a more vocal advocate of the vaccination,” Mark Valentine said of his brother. “For those listening, I know...

Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics agreed Thursday to ban spectators from the Games after Japan declared a state of emergency to combat surging COVID-19 cases in the capital. The move comes just two weeks before the opening Games on July 23. President Seiko Hashimoto, who is the president of the Tokyo Olympics Organizing Committee, said it was “regrettable” that the sporting event would be held without crowds.

Scientists at Wuhan lab were on massive project investigating animal viruses Documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday have revealed a nationwide scheme It was being directed by leading state body, which was launched nine years ago Its aim was to find new viruses and detect 'dark matter' of biology involved in spreading disease - alongside military officials, despite denials of any such links ...Documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday reveal that a nationwide scheme, directed by a leading state body, was launched nine years ago to discover new viruses and detect the 'dark matter' of biology involved in...

Donald Trump Jr. has tested positive for the coronavirus and is quarantining at his cabin.

CNN)The Trump campaign confirmed six staffers working on the Tulsa rally tested positive for coronavirus. "Per safety protocols, campaign staff are tested for COVID-19 before events. Six members of the advance team tested positive out of hundreds of tests performed, and quarantine procedures were immediately implemented. No COVID-positive staffers or anyone in immediate contact will be at today's rally or near attendees and elected officials. As previously announced, all rally attendees are given temperature checks before going through security, at which point they are given wristbands, facemasks and hand sanitizer," Tim Murtaugh, Campaign Communications Director, said in a statement.

Controversial new research suggests that contrary to the history books, the "Black Death" that devastated medieval Europe was not the bubonic plague, but rather an Ebola-like virus. History books have long taught the Black Death, which wiped out a quarter of Europe's population in the Middle Ages, was caused by bubonic plague, spread by infected fleas that lived on black rats. But new research in England suggests the killer was actually an Ebola-like virus transmitted directly from person to person. The Black Death killed some 25 million Europeans in a devastating outbreak between 1347 and 1352, and then reappeared periodically...

TUESDAY, AUGUST 22ND, TONIGHT::: TUNE IN TO YOUR LOCAL PBS STATION: Debate Gallagher v. Crist at 8:00 pm est. Floridians and Americans who like to watch super important debates! Tonight you are in for a real treat. PBS Stations all over Florida are covering the debate between GOP Candidate Tom Gallagher for Governor and GOP Candidate for Governor Charlie Crist. This thread is critical for a discussion of tonight's debate. WHAT DID YOU THINK OVERALL? 1. What was your reaction to the debate? 2. Who made a slip? 3. Who didn't answer a question? 4. Who won? This should be...

FOX NEWS ALERT!! Dick Cheney is fine and is on his way home. He might have a cold. No heart problems, no congestive heart failure, no excessive fluid in the lungs.