The step allows activation of 100-plus National Guard troops to work as certified nursing assistants in facilities COVID patients can go post-hospital.

Health Secretary Xavier Becerra says the nation cannot afford another COVID-19 surge in nursing homes.

Andre Drummond, Danny Green, and Shake Milton are also in the health and safety protocols.

During the week of Dec. 21-27, an average of 334 children 17 and under were admitted per day to hospitals with the coronavirus, a 58% increase from the week before.

The CDC will open a testing site in Essex County, N.J. on Saturday, which will be available to all Garden State residents. More federal sites are planned for Philly.

Online schooling will last two weeks, from Jan. 3 to Jan. 18, the district says. Free meals will still be provided.

Going virtual for two weeks would allow the virus to work its way through anyone who was infected over the holidays, they say.

The "strike teams" will be deployed to open about 30 additional acute care beds between the two locations.

Top officials with the U.N. health agency cautioned that it's still too early to be reassured by initial data suggesting that omicron leads to milder disease.

The fast-spreading mutant version of the virus has cast a pall over Christmas and New Year's, forcing communities to scale back or call off their festivities.

Pennsylvania hospitals overwhelmed with the latest COVID-19 surge will get help from federal teams as Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration finalizes the details.

While some big New Year’s events are still on as planned, others are canceling outright or making changes to adapt to concerns over the latest COVID-19 surge.

To the dismay of some authorities, the new guidelines allow people to leave isolation without getting tested to see if they are still infectious.

The trendlines, coupled with the emergence of the highly infectious omicron variant, signal difficult times over the next several weeks, said Dr. Jennifer Horney.

Camden County has teamed up with Vault Medical Services to provide free COVID-19 saliva tests at three sites.