Covid-19

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert on Wednesday deleted a tweet in which she downplayed the threat posed by the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, previously known as B.1.617.

"The easiest way to make the Delta variant go away is to turn off CNN. And vote Republican," the Colorado Republican wrote on the social media platform.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un replaced several senior officials after a "grave incident" in the country's efforts to defend itself against the coronavirus, state media reported Wednesday.

Pyongyang closed its borders in January last year to defend itself against the pandemic that first emerged in neighboring China and has gone on to sweep the world.

US consumers are growing more upbeat about the economy and job prospects, with confidence rebounding to the highest point since the start of the pandemic, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

And even as they become more wary about rising prices, that has not dampened enthusiasm, according to The Conference Board's monthly report showing the consumer confidence index jumped to 127.3 in June -- the highest since February 2020 before Covid-19 shuttered the global economy.

The troubled US newspaper sector cut thousands more jobs as circulation losses extended in a pandemic year, but saw some positive signs with growth in digital readers, a Pew Research Center report showed Tuesday.

As part of its annual assessment of the media, Pew researchers found losses of some 12 percent of newsroom jobs, or some 4,000 reporters, editors or photographers in 2020, to bring total employment to 30,820 at the end of the year.

United Airlines announced the largest order in its history on Tuesday, unveiling major purchases from Boeing and Airbus in a significant bet on the travel industry's recovery from Covid-19.

The US carrier plans to acquire 270 new planes consisting of 200 Boeing aircraft and 70 Airbus jets, in an order valued at $35.4 billion based on the listed price of the jets, although airlines often end up paying much less than the list price.

Neither the threat of dying from Covid nor an array of inducements from lottery tickets to guns and marijuana have been enough to sway America's staunchest vaccine holdouts.

As the divide between the country's pro- and anti-immunization regions widens, and the dangerous Delta variant keeps gaining ground, experts are calling for more mandates in jurisdictions, colleges and businesses so Americans are protected where they live and work.

Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," the authors of a new book on Donald Trump's response to the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that doctors attending to the ex-president when he became infected were worried he might suffer organ failure if he left Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Speaking with co-hosts Willie Geist and Mika Brzezinski, journalists Damian Paletta and Yasmeen Abutaleb were asked about events reported in their book, "Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration's Response to the Pandemic That Changed History."

The authors of a new book about former President Donald Trump's handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic are spilling additional details about Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner's role in mismanaging the public health crisis.

In an interview with The Daily Beast, Washington Post reporters Damian Paletta and Yasmine Abutaleb explain how one of Kushner's big initiatives at the start of the pandemic actually backfired and slowed down the national response to the deadly disease that has claimed the lives of more than 600,000 Americans.

About 10 million Australians have been ordered into lockdown as Covid-19 spreads across the country, after Brisbane on Tuesday became the fourth major city to issue stay-at-home orders.

The three-day snap lockdown for Brisbane, starting on Tuesday evening, comes on top of similar orders imposed in Sydney, Perth and Darwin residents in recent days.

On Monday, the Milwaukee Health Commissioner Kirsten Johnson slammed Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) at a press conference for an event he hosted casting doubt on the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Senator Ron Johnson, who publicly confirmed he is unvaccinated, has used his platform today to raise misleading concerns regarding the COVID-19 vaccine," said the commissioner. "The scientific facts about the COVID-19 vaccine remain: it is safe, it is effective, and complications are extremely rare ... We urge Milwaukeeans to talk to people they love and trust, listen to the experts and science, discuss questions and concerns with licensed medical or health professionals, and continue to get vaccinated to save lives in our community."

After declining fast for two months, the rate of Covid infections in the United States has leveled off since mid-June thanks to localized spikes in under-vaccinated regions of the country, data showed Monday.

It comes as the highly contagious Delta variant continues to gain traction, now accounting for 35.6 percent of sequenced cases in the past two weeks, according to the covSpectrum tracker. Authorities have said it is poised to soon become the country's dominant strain.