While omicron appears to cause less severe disease and lead to fewer hospitalizations, its rapid spread indicates that it is much more contagious than other variants.
Health
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
Maine schools face ‘unfathomable challenges’ as omicron spreads
The Maine Department of Education reported Thursday that 4,946 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in school populations in the last 30 days.
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Posted inHealth, Nation & World
U.S. hospitals experience a different kind of COVID-19 surge this time
The omicron variant infects more people, so hospitals must cope with more patients and more health-care workers who test positive, but patients aren’t as sick as with previous variants.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
Maine hospitals report spike in staff absences caused by COVID-19
MaineHealth and Northern Light Health are urging Mainers to get vaccinated to ease the burden on health care workers caused by the surge likely being fueled by the omicron variant.
Posted inHealth, Nation & World
Puerto Rico imposes new COVID-19 measures
Private businesses that cater to the public must close from midnight to 5 a.m. and gatherings of more than 250 people are banned.
Posted inHealth
With omicron, hospital patient numbers may be more important than case counts
With the true number of infections probably much higher than the case count, ‘Hospitalizations are where the rubber meets the road,’ says a public health professor.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
Omicron spreading in Maine as hospitalizations climb
The coronavirus variant made up 8.75% of the positive tests in the week leading to Christmas, according to genomic sequencing by The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor.
Posted inBusiness, Health, Nation & World
FDA allows Pfizer boosters for 12- to 15-year-olds as omicron surges
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now must decide whether to go along with the recommended boosters for the younger teens.
Posted inHealth, Local & State
Experts urge universal mask-wearing to fight omicron, but behavior varies widely
Wildly inconsistent policies and people generally masking less after getting vaccinated present challenges for public health officials.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, Nation & World, New England, News
COVID-19 death rates are three times higher in Maine’s less vaccinated counties
The stark contrast reveals the effectiveness of inoculation in preventing hospitalizations and deaths.