Health

By Megan Marples, CNN Homes adorned with twinkling holiday lights are a common sight in December, but by January, many lights are gone. Not this year. Many people are looking to keep the holiday spirit going. In communities big and small, people are calling on their fellow neighbors to keep their lights hung through the

By Travis Caldwell, CNN While the highly transmissible Omicron variant continues to drive up Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations — and the numbers are likely to get worse before they get better — health experts say it’s critical Americans continue safe practices to prevent infections. “I don’t buy the idea that we are all going to

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN There are lots of great reasons to decide to go “dry” in January and give up alcohol. Perhaps you imbibed a bit too much over the holidays, or want to start a diet or exercise routine and can’t afford the calories or the zap in energy and motivation that drinking can

By Travis Caldwell, CNN As the number of Covid-19 hospitalizations surpasses those during the Delta variant surge over the summer and fall, more states are enacting emergency protocols to deal with growing staff shortages at hospitals. The greater transmissibility of the Omicron variant — which in just one month has led to millions of new

By Katia Hetter, CNN The United States is facing an unprecedented surge of Covid-19 infections, driven in large part by the very highly contagious Omicron variant. New research is coming out every day about Omicron, and people have many questions about what this surge — and the new variant — means for considering personal risk.

By Phyllis L. Fagell, CNN While a seventh grade boy taught an eighth grade boy how to start a knitting row, a seventh grade girl put the finishing touches on her knit bunny and a diverse group of middle schoolers streamed into a classroom in Washington, DC, for knitting club. As the pandemic drags on,

By Holly Yan and Travis Caldwell, CNN More children are getting hospitalized with Covid-19 than ever before as the Omicron variant’s dominance intensifies. An average of 672 children were admitted to hospitals every day with Covid-19 during the week ending Sunday, the highest such number of the pandemic, according to data from the Centers for

By Miguel Marquez and Holly Yan, CNN At Texas Children’s Hospital, 4-month-old Graysen Perry has Covid-19 and is struggling to breathe. His mom, Gayvielle Goff, is struggling to talk. “It’s just really scary,” Goff said, trying to suppress tears. At the same Houston hospital, 17-year-old Halie Mulanax is fighting Covid-19 on a ventilator. She’s never

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN The US Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use authorization for booster doses of Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 12 to 15 Monday. The agency also shaved four weeks off the waiting period for the booster after the administration of the second dose, from at least six months to at

By Lauren Kent, CNN New Year’s resolutions aren’t just for adults anymore. A new year can bring new excitement and opportunities to grow for kids, too. They can learn to focus on healthy habits and new goals just like adults. New Year’s resolutions can be a beneficial way for kids to get motivated, according to

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday expanded the emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine boosters to children ages 12 to 15. The agency also shortened the time needed before receiving a booster shot from at least six months after completion of the initial series to at least five

By Chloe Melas, CNN I’m really tired. No, seriously. I don’t think I’ve slept through the night in four years. What could be causing my sleep issues, you ask? I’m the mom of two young boys, ages 2 and 4, and they haven’t ever slept through the night except for a few months when they

By Deidre McPhillips and Derrick Hinds, CNN More than 103,000 people are currently hospitalized with Covid-19, the first time the total has reached six figures in nearly four months, according to the latest data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. Covid-19 hospitalizations reached a record high of more than 142,000 about a

By Christina Maxouris and Holly Yan, CNN The new year is starting with a massive influx of Covid-19 that’s different from any other during this pandemic, doctors say. “We’re seeing a surge in patients again, unprecedented in this pandemic,” said Dr. James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University Hospital. “What’s coming for

By Katy Milkman, CNN It’s that time of year again. Champagne bottles have been popped, balls have dropped, and now your friends, family and colleagues are starting to ask, “What’s your New Year’s resolution?” Some people love the tradition of setting a goal each January 1. Others argue it’s a waste of time since most

By Christina Maxouris and Alaa Elassar, CNN The US is ringing in the new year amid a Covid-19 surge experts warn is exploding at unprecedented speed and could alter daily life for many Americans during the first month of 2022. “Omicron is truly everywhere,” Dr. Megan Ranney, a professor of emergency medicine at Brown University’s

By Christina Maxouris, CNN A day after reporting its highest average daily Covid-19 case number, the US shattered the record Thursday, with an average of 355,990 infections reported every day in the past week, according to Johns Hopkins University. As the latest surge sweeps across the US, pushing cases and hospitalizations to unprecedented levels and

By Maggie Fox, CNN A traveler isolated for Covid-19 at a quarantine facility in New Zealand managed to infect three others across a hallway, researchers reported Thursday. Closed-circuit camera footage, genetic testing and careful contact tracing show that the only conceivable way the virus could have passed from one room to another was in air

By Kaitlan Collins, CNN The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to broaden eligibility for Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine boosters to youths ages 12 to 15 in the coming days, according to a person familiar with the agency’s plan. People as young as 16 are already eligible to receive boosters of the Pfizer vaccine six

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN A new year is coming, and it brings along concerns over imminent holiday celebrations in light of the Omicron variant. The coronavirus strain, the latest “variant of concern,” according to the World Health Organization, is spreading across the United States quickly. In the next week or 10 days, the virus circulating

By Aya Elamroussi, CNN An unprecedented spike in Covid-19 cases fueled by the fast-moving Omicron variant is crushing hospitals across the United States, with doctors describing packed emergency rooms as health experts implore New Year’s Eve revelers to keep parties small and outdoors to help avert an even worse surge. “It’s unlike anything we’ve ever

By Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent It’s almost the new year and along with it comes the admittedly aspirational tradition of setting New Year’s resolutions — ones that we hopefully can stick to and not abandon after Week 3, or even Day 3, of 2022. At the same time, we’re sliding into our

By Holly Yan and Aya Elamroussi, CNN Sweeping new Covid-19 isolation and quarantine guidelines were spurred by scientific research and what Americans would likely tolerate, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. They come as doctors expect the holiday coronavirus surge, driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant, to

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Prefer your coffee black? Then you probably like dark, bitter chocolate, according to new research identifying a genetic basis for those preferences. If that’s you, then congratulations — you are the lucky genetic winner of a trait that may offer you a boost toward good health, according to caffeine researcher Marilyn