Covid update: Union Health Minister to hold review meeting with southern states, UTs today

John Mayer is about to perform the second of two sold-out shows at New York City’s Madison Square Garden as part of his Sob Rock Tour, but the second show is likely going to be a lot different than the first.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Billy Ray Macon Sr. has accomplished a lot in his 80 years of living.

The booster rollout continues with more than 27,770 booster doses administered across the motu yesterday.

(Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office) PALM SPRINGS, Fla. - A Florida woman stands accused of killing her husband and stabbing his body 140 times, officials said.The Palm Springs Police Department said the body of Melvin Weller, 62, was found by the woman's son, Ricardo Anthony Green, 41, who reported it to police, CBS 46 reported. The woman, Joan Burke, 61, was subsequently arrested and charged with his death, officials said.Blood was on the walls, cabinets, and kitchen counters of the home, police said, ABC 27 reported.Burke, who was initially arrested on Feb.

COVID-19: Quebec opposition says it’s time to end state of emergency The Barreau du Québec said Monday it’s time the government explain why it still needs emergency powers.“Does the current situation require keeping the state of emergency?” Catherine Claveau, head of the bar association, wrote in a statement. “Are the measures that will be maintained during the deconfinement plan justified? To answer these questions, the government must provide clear justifications for maintaining some ‘exceptional rules.”’Over the past two years, the Quebec government has used emergency powers to impose curfews, ban private gatherings and close businesses such as restaurants, bars and gyms.

The blaring horns and snarled streets of the so-called “Freedom Convoy” blockade in Ottawa are no more, but on Monday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested the work to heal the pandemic divisions in the country that the convoy exposed must now begin.

Ontario says it is providing more stand-alone HEPA filter units for schools and child-care centres to offer more children greater protection against COVID-19.A Monday statement says up to 40,000 more air purifiers will be made available to school boards and up to 9,000 will go to child-care settings.Education Minister Stephen Lecce says ventilation improvements are a critical priority, after the government previously announced that it would provide 73,000 of the filters and other ventilation devices.

GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. - Federal prosecutors and defense attorneys for the men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery wrapped their closing remarks in the federal hate crimes trial on Monday in Brunswick, Georgia.The jury received the case at about 3 p.m. on Monday and deliberated almost three hours before court went in recess for the day. Deliberations are set to restart at 9 a.m.

Boris johnson today (February 21) said that the response to the pandemic would be "vaccine led" as he announced that all lockdown restrictions will be ending by Thursday. Speaking after he announced all remaining Covid restrictions will be axed, the PM said there "may be significant resurgences" and "it's very possible that those will be worse than Omicron".Whitty said at a Downing Street press conference that new strains were to be expected and while some "will just disappear" others could escape vaccines and result in a fresh wave in hospitalisations.Prof Whitty said: “Some of those new variants will just disappear, but some of them will cause us significant problems and they could be either more vaccine escaping but as severe as Omicron, but the net effect would be actually more people end up in hospital because a lot of our protection is from vaccination, or it could be more intrinsically severe, because Omicron came from a much earlier variant.”He added we “could certainly end up with something which is more likely to lead to hospitalisations than Omicron”, adding that winters are expected to be “tricky” even in the absence of significant new variants due to the combination of Covid, flu and other respiratory problems.The Chief Medical Officer also urged Brits who test positive for Covid to self-isolate, even though they will no longer be forced to do so under law.“As we look at the next weeks, we still have high rates of Omicron and I would urge people in terms of public health advice, and this is very much the Government’s position, that people should still if they have Covid try to prevent other people getting it and that means self-isolating," he said.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Three people and two dogs were found dead inside a Florida home after a roommate returned home Sunday evening, police said.The roommate who discovered the horrific scene called emergency services, who said each victim had gunshot wounds, WFLX reported.MORE NEWS: Florida woman allegedly stabbed husband 140 times, fractured skull with meat cleaver: police saidPort St.

FILE - Members of the Police and the Mexican Army patrol the center of Playa Del Carmen. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Two men were killed and a third was injured Saturday night after members of suspected rival drug cartels opened fire at a popular Mexican beach resort, officials say. Shots were reported around 8:30 p.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested on Monday that while protests surrounding Parliament Hill in Ottawa have mostly dispersed and the horns are no longer sounding, the work to heal the pandemic divisions in the country that the convoy exposed must now begin.

In an address to the House of Commons today, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a plan for "living with COVID," phasing out free testing for most people and removing requirements to self-isolate after testing positive.

The Prime Minister has announced that British workers should "learn from Germany" and not go to work if they are feeling ill.

PHILADELPHIA - A woman is fighting for her life after she was shot multiple times in the West Oak Lane section of the city. The shooting happened inside a home on the 100 block of Mayland Street at approximately 3:18 p.m.Police say the 56-year-old woman was shot multiple times throughout her body. Police took her to a local hospital where she was listed in critical condition. An arrest was made and a weapon was recovered, according to authorities.A motive for the shooting was not revealed. ___DOWNLOAD: FOX 29 NEWS APP | FOX 29 WEATHER AUTHORITY APPSUBSCRIBE: Good Day Digest Newsletter | FOX 29 Philly on YouTubeAdvertisementFOLLOW: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

In this photo illustration, The Facebook and Instagram logos on the screen of an iPhone on March 9, 2021, in Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany. (Photo by Tom Weller/DeFodi Images via Getty Images) MAGNOLIA, De. - Three suspected Delaware porch pirates are facing a long list of charges after authorities said one of them was identified by community members through a social media post. The Delaware State Police investigated numerous package thefts from homes in the Houston, Felton, Harrington, and Magnolia sections of Kent County over the past several months. The thieves also swiped decorations from front lawns, police said.Investigators in early February asked for the public's help in identifying a possible suspect through a social media post, according to police.MORE LOCAL HEADLINESPolice on Friday arrested Lawrence Evans, 43, and Dawn Shockley, 37, at a home on Riley Drive in Magnolia.

Lower percentages of US children visited an emergency department (ED) for any indication amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while adolescent girls accounted for the largest hikes in visits for mental illness, according to two Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studies published late last week in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).For both studies, the researchers mined pediatric ED visit data in the

announced this week it will cancel $415 million in federal student loans by nearly 16,000 borrowers allegedly misled by for-profit colleges.The borrowers, who attended DeVry University, ITT Technical Institute, Westwood College and the Minnesota School of Business/Globe University, will receive the relief through a legal provision known as borrower defense, which allows individuals to discharge some or all of their student loan debt if their school misled them or otherwise engaged in other misconduct. "The department remains committed to giving borrowers discharges when the evidence shows their college violated the law and standards," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement Wednesday.The department found that between 2008 and 2015, DeVry University, a for-profit university headquartered in Illinois, repeatedly misled students by claiming that 90% of its graduates actively seeking employment landed a job in their field of study within six months of graduation. The job placement level was actually closer to 58%, according to the department.The department has so far identified about 1,800 borrowers who will be eligible for more than $71 million in discharges because they "relied upon DeVry's misrepresentation in deciding to enroll." The number of borrowers who qualify for discharge is expected to grow as the department continues to review outstanding claims from former students.

PHILADELPHIA - A man is making a recovery after he was shot twice while driving in North Philadelphia. The incident happened at approximately 12:15 p.m. near 17th Street and Olney Avenue. Police say a 23-year-old man was shot once in the back and suffered a graze wound to the head.

PHILADELPHIA - The spike in gun violence during the pandemic has unnerved residents, elected officials and community leaders alike, but the concern is growing over firearms described as ghosts."Ghost guns are essentially a firearm that comes in two separate parts with a couple of screws to drill the gun together and you have a firearm in just a few minutes," Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro told FOX 29.Shapiro is concerned about the growing threat because ghost guns are untraceable and sold online in kits that do not require a criminal background check to purchase.For him, the main point of the issue is that people with criminal backgrounds, who cannot own a gun legally, can obtain one this way. Ghost guns do not have serial numbers etched on them that provide the gun's make, model and history.Critics argue ghost guns flow in the underground stream of crime guns and vanish when subjected to the tracking and tracing investigators use to combat gun crime."Typically, people are buying them at gun shows by the duffle bags, taking them back to a facility, putting them together and selling them on the streets," Shapiro said.The numbers show a startling rise in ghost guns, also referred to as privately made firearms.MORE LOCAL HEADLINESThe Philadelphia Police Department reported recovering 95 ghost guns in 2019 and 250 in 2020.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - California authorities are trying to capture Hank the Tank, a massive black bear estimated to weigh at least 500 pounds. They say he’s responsible for breaking into several homes in the South Lake Tahoe area.South Lake Tahoe Police said the latest incident with Hank happened Friday morning when he broke into a home on Catalina Drive in the Tahoe Keys area. Officers banged on the exterior of the home until Hank moved outside through the back door. RELATED: Frederick buzzing over black bear sighting"This bear did not break into a garage where trash was kept that he was sniffing out," authorities posted on their Facebook page.

READING, Pa. - Police in Reading are investigating a fatal double shooting of two men that occurred on Sunday. Officers from the Reading Police Department responded to the area area of the 200 block of West Greenwich Street shortly after 7 a.m. for the report of a shooting. When officers arrived on the scene, they located two men with gunshot wounds.

POLK TOWNSHIP, Pa. - A man involved in a drug-related robbery that ended with the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy in eastern Pennsylvania will now spend several decades in prison.Anthony Mitchell, 19, of Kunkletown, pleaded guilty Friday to third-degree murder, according to the Monroe County prosecutor’s office. He was then sentenced to 38 1/2 to 77 years in prison.Mitchell was among three people who stole $120 worth of marijuana in November 2020 from three teenagers who were sitting in a car in a Polk Township cul-de-sac, authorities have said.

BBC One series finale.On Saturday (19 February), viewers were glued to their screens as they tuned in for the final episode the popular period drama after 11 series on air.But after watching the nail-biting episode, the 37-year-old opened up about her own complications during her second pregnancy after watching her difficult illness featured on the show.The mum-of-two – who has played the role of Nurse Trixie Franklin since 2012 – took a break from the show this year as she prepared to welcome her little one to her growing family.She happily announced the birth of her second daughter during the countdown to Christmas last year, but it’s fair to say her birth was less than perfect.And after watching the emotional episode over the weekend, the blonde bombshell has decided to share her own personal experience with Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (ICP).The NHS defines the illness as a liver disorder caused by bile acids, which help the gut to digest food, and prevent the flow of food properly.The rare illness affects one in 140 pregnant women in the UK with his main symptom being itching without a rash which requires urgent medical attention.In a lengthy Instagram post, Helen explained how the disorder affected her second pregnancy with her 221,000 followers online.She wrote: "After last night’s final episode of Call the Midwife, it seemed the right time to talk about my experience with Cholestasis in Pregnancy."In 2017 when I gave birth to our daughter Wren, I was diagnosed with this condition."I knew there was a high chance that I would suffer again with my second pregnancy, but I was under the most incredible specialists/doctors/midwives/health worker at Guys and St Thomas’s.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a list of steps in the next part of England's Covid plan.

LOS ANGELES - It feels like a never-ending uphill battle for many homebuyers across the United States. "My experience with looking for a house has been frustrating," one Georgia resident told FOX Television Stations Group. "I have been texting my agent day and night to squeeze in a showing only for the house to go before I could even go see it." The woman, who desires a home in Atlanta, revealed, not too long ago, she put in an offer on a house above the asking price only to discover the seller went with someone else's offer who paid $200,000 over the asking price with no contingencies. "At this point, instead of being able to take my time to find a house that I truly like, I have resorted to finding one that is good enough because that’s all I can afford," she added.But this is only the tip of the iceberg for first-time homebuyers and likely not the first story you’ve heard, especially lately: tight inventory, multiple offers on rundown properties, houses selling for well over the asking price (sometimes by hundreds of thousands of dollars) and home renovations taking substantially longer than predicted due to low supply on flooring, cabinets, and, well, literally everything. "COVID has flipped our life upside-down, disturbed many aspects of everyday life, but the housing market [had] exceptional performance," Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), told FOX Television Stations.

JUPITER, Fla. - Major League Baseball’s negotiations to salvage opening day resume at a new venue Monday: Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida.Colorado Rockies CEO Dick Monfort, chairman of the owners’ labor policy committee, was expected to join a management delegation that includes Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem, the clubs’ lead negotiator.Bruce Meyer, the union’s chief negotiator, was expected to be joined by players. The site of negotiations is about 3 miles from the home of New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer, among the eight players on the union’s executive subcommittee.The ballpark usually would be the spring training home of the Miami Marlins and St.

US Air Force veteran Gail Halvorsen (M), known as "Candy Bomber", takes part in the celebration of 70 years of the Berlin Airlift. (Arne Dedert/picture alliance via Getty Images) U.S.

COVID-19 as the province entered a new phase of reopening Monday.Pandemic-related hospitalizations stood at a total of 1,776, an increase of 18 from the previous day. Of those patients, 119 were in intensive care units, an increase of five.In the last 24 hours, 101 people were admitted to Quebec hospitals while 83 were discharged.It’s the first net increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the province since Feb.

COVID-19 despite a significant slowdown in the effort to immunize that segment of the population, the province’s health department contends.Provincial figures show around 65 per cent of children five to 11 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the lowest rate of any age group eligible for the shot.“Quebec is continuing its vaccination campaign for children under 12. Appointments are available across Quebec for this age group,” Health Department spokesman Robert Maranda said in an email.“Quebec will not abandon its efforts, as long as people want to get the vaccine, they will be able to receive it.” Quebec adds 3 new COVID-19 deaths as hospitalizations rise Fifty per cent of children five to 11 got their first dose of vaccine between Nov.

Ottawa for the first time in more than three weeks on Sunday as police continued their efforts to put a final end to anti-government demonstrations that immobilized the national capital.Roadways once choked with trucks and protesters opposed to COVID-19 public health measures and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government were largely clear, though debris and other signs of the blockade dubbed an illegal occupation by its critics were still in evidence.Ottawa Police, working in tandem with forces from across the country, said they’d arrested 191 people and laid 391 charges related to the demonstrations, though Ottawa Interim Police Chief Steve Bell said the mammoth law enforcement operation was far from over.“There is another phase that will identify how we maintain the streets, how we eventually demobilize, once we’ve identified that there is no threat of further protests coming to our city,” Bell said at a news conference. “We aren’t there yet.” Ottawa’s convoy occupation mostly clear, but police ‘not done’ with operation yet Bell said charges laid to date include obstructing police, disobeying a court order, assault, mischief, possessing a weapon and assaulting a police officer.Law enforcement is “with every hour” getting closer to delivering on its promise to clear streets and give them back to residents, he added.Chris Harkins, deputy commissioner with the Ontario Provincial Police, said commercial and private vehicle driver’s licenses have been suspended, while 76 vehicles have been seized and towed in Ottawa.But the massive enforcement blitz also drew attention from Ontario’s police watchdog on Sunday.

coronavirus in spring 2020 and the number of people having Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate has now risen to more than 183,000 according to the Office for National Statistics.

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WASHINGTON - Presidents’ Day is a federal holiday in the U.S. celebrated on the third Monday of February each year. The day recognizes George Washington’s birthday, as well as honors the history of the American presidency and all of those who have served as our nation’s leader. From Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to Ronald Reagan’s "tear down this wall" speech more than a century later, here are some famous presidential remarks of the past.The two-minute speech was given by President Abraham Lincoln following the Battle of Gettysburg during a cemetery dedication for the Union war dead on Nov. 19, 1983.

Rye Jr. High School students launched a mini boat in 2020 that landed in Norway last week. (Photo courtesy of Rye Jr.

Queen’s Covid scare will not deter the Royal Family from being an “example” following the Government's expected relaxing of restrictions, a royal expert has insisted.Buckingham Palace confirmed the Queen would continue to carry out “light duties” despite showing “mild cold like” symptoms. Despite calls from royal fans for the reigning monarch to rest, it seems as though The Firm look set to carry on as normal as Kate Middleton looks to continue onto her trip to Copenhagen, Denmark.

WASHINGTON - An organizer of one of the truck convoys headed to D.C. later this week says there are plans to shut down the Capital Beltway.Download the FOX 5 DC News App for Local Breaking News and Weather"We will be along the Beltway where the Beltway will be shut down," Bob Bolus said in an interview Sunday.Bolus owns a truck parts and towing business in Scranton.

Former President Donald Trump speaks during the 'Save America' rally at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds on January 29, 2022 in Conroe, Texas. T (Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Classified information was found in the 15 boxes of White House records that were stored at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, the National Archives and Records Administration said in a letter that confirmed the matter has been sent to the Justice Department.The Friday letter from the agency follows numerous reports around Trump's handling of sensitive and even classified information during his time as president and after he left the White House.

NEW ORLEANS - A New Orleans zoo has officially named its baby Sumatran orangutan: "Roux."The infant was born on Christmas Eve 2021 at the Audubon Zoo and has been getting round-the-clock care since a few days after his birth because Menari, a first-time mother, wasn’t producing enough milk. The Audubon Zoo said the name Roux paid homage to New Orleans and is a French term for "a reddish-brown like the color of an orangutan's fur and the thickening base used to make gumbo."The zoo's orangutan care team narrowed their selection of names to three — Rudy, Roux and Maymuun — and asked the public to vote on the winner."We are grateful to the community for helping us pick a name and extremely overwhelmed by the nearly 10K total votes that were cast," Audubon Zoo’s Curator of Primates Liz Wilson said in a statement. "Our team feels that Roux perfectly fits the newest member of our orangutan family and loves that it pays homage to his New Orleans roots." The great apes with long red hair are considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - SpaceX launched another batch of 46 Starlink satellites into orbit on President's Day.The launch was supposed to happen on Sunday, but weather conditions in the recovery zone pushed it back. The Falcon 9 rocket successfully lifted off at 9:44 a.m.

Elderly and vulnerable people will be offered another booster jab by the government, following recommendations from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka’s Irrigation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa has hinted that working hours should likely be changed as a solution to the morning traffic in Colombo and suburbs.He made these comments on Monday (21) after he was delayed by traffic in attending an event in Kaduwela.“I was delayed by 15 minutes to reach this location. The reason was the traffic and the congestion of vehicles on the road,” said the Minister adding that there needs to be a focus on reducing traffic ac well.He suggested that consideration needs to be given to travel convenience and work hour convenience, thereby reducing fuel consumption and protecting the foreign reserves.

Nicki Minaj has responded to the Philadelphia Public Health Department’s take on her viral COVID tweet from last year, where she expressed scepticism around the vaccine.The rapper originally discussed the COVID vaccine in a series of tweets posted on September 13. She started by replying to a Twitter user who noted Minaj had last appeared in public over a year ago.

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