U.S. intelligence agencies are divided over whether a lab leak or a spillover from animals is the likely source of the deadly virus.

The system is still encouraging community members to get vaccinated and boosted.

Did COVID-19 originate in animals or leak from a Chinese lab?

A federal mandate for health care workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has been in place nationally for a year.

Lawmakers who negotiated the payments say they believed the pandemic-era aid would be tax-free, but a Maine Revenue Service official says no such assurance was made.

Hundreds of thousands of students who have dropped off public school rolls since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic are unaccounted for.

Even though some taxpayers already have filed, the state is one of nearly two dozen where federal officials have yet to determine whether the payments are taxable.

Despite objections from public health advocates, a legislative committee voted Wednesday in favor of permanently legalizing the pandemic-era practice of to-go cocktails, wine, and beer.

The system president says high vaccination rates in the state and improved outcomes for people who contract COVID-19 played a role in the decision.

Nirav Shah, director of Maine's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, will be second in command at the U.S. CDC starting next month.

The Biden administration had previously considered ending the emergency last year, but held off amid concerns about a potential 'winter surge' in cases.

The Food and Drug Administration asked its scientific advisers Thursday to help lay the groundwork for switching to once-a-year boosters for most Americans.

U.S. health officials want to make COVID-19 vaccinations more like the annual flu shot.

Hong Kong, which once had some of the world's strictest COVID-19 rules, has been easing various restrictions to revive its economy.

The state is one of the most vaccinated in the country, but nursing home residents are far more updated for the latest shot than those who care for them.

Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC, said a wall of immunity should help prevent the outbreaks experienced last winter.

A record 104,000 people missed work in October 2022 because of child care problems, surpassing early pandemic levels.

The U.S., Japan and some other countries are requiring travelers from China to show a negative test before allowing them to enter, and Taiwan has said it will quarantine positive cases.

EU health officials promise to continue talks on seeking a common approach.

Meanwhile, Japan announces restrictions on visitors from the country as infections surge.

MaineHealth is participating in a national study of long COVID patients that many hope will lead to cures.

Biden ultimately accepted Republican demands in order to win passage of the legislation agreeing with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that lifting the mandate was not in the best interests of the military.

Maine reported 3,275 new cases of flu on Tuesday.

Doctors and other experts say the problem could persist through the winter cold-and-flu season but should not last as long as other recent shortages of baby formula.

There will be several events around southern Maine during the eight-day holiday, which begins at sundown on Sunday.

Since the pandemic began, employment of people with disabilities is up nearly 25%, to more than 7.3 million workers last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

COVID-19 cases have shown a marked increase after Thanksgiving, and further increases are projected from Christmas and New Year's.

But the nation is seeing a rapid rise in new infections, raising concerns that its health system could be overwhelmed.

Hospitalizations for people with COVID-19 rose by more than 30% in two weeks.

Over 26 million people in Shanghai were confined for two months in one of the country's strictest and most visible lockdowns.

The accelerated pace reflects pressure on President Xi Jinping to chart a path out of the crisis and quell public discontent.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that President Biden told House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy he would consider lifting the mandate.

Children ages 6 months through 4 years already are supposed to get three extra-small doses of the original Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

Maine is seeing an increase in influenza cases and hospitalizations.

Congress may consider legislation this coming week to end the mandate as a requirement to gather enough support to pass this years’ defense budget, which is already two months late.

Public health officials say its termination could lead to more false claims about the virus or the efficacy of vaccines.

Chinese authorities have eased some anti-virus rules but affirmed their severe 'zero COVID' strategy after protesters demanded President Xi Jinping resign in the biggest show of opposition to the ruling Communist Party in decades

Nationally, new COVID cases averaged around 39,300 a day as of Tuesday – far lower than last winter but a vast undercount because of reduced testing and reporting.

The drop comes as hospitals are packed with RSV patients and facing a difficult influenza season.

Every Maine household is eligible to receive a free, at-home COVID-19 test kit every month. Each kit contains five rapid tests.

COVID isn’t the only threat young children face this fall and winter. U.S. health systems and children’s hospitals are currently grappling with a wave of respiratory viruses.

Reports of flu are already high in 17 states, and the hospitalization rate hasn’t been this high this early since the 2009 swine flu pandemic.

Work on the city's proposed new comprehensive plan, a 260-page document that guides decisions affecting the city, was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public health experts are fretting about a "tri-demic" where RSV, influenza and COVID-19 strain the health care system.

The Chinese city of Shanghai has started administering an inhalable COVID-19 vaccine in what appears to be a world first.

The first comprehensive look at how the nation's students are faring after two years of pandemic learning shows decades of academic progress erased – in Maine and nationwide.

Still, many people are expected to continue receive it for free once the U.S. government stops buying the shots, the drugmaker says.

'One piece of the puzzle': Ten months since Maine launched its wastewater surveillance program, experts are still figuring out the best way to use the data.

The $25 million is the latest in a series of payouts included in the state's supplemental budget approved in April.

The crisis has disproportionately claimed Black and Hispanic women.