BALTIMORE — More than 12 million people in the U.S have contracted the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. The nation’s total number of confirmed cases reached 12.01 million on Saturday, six days after the number had reached 11 million, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Daily numbers of new U.S. cases […]

The surging coronavirus is taking an increasingly dire toll across the U.S. just as a vaccine appears close at hand, with the country now averaging over 1,300 COVID-19 deaths per day — the highest level since the calamitous spring in and around New York City. The overall U.S. death toll has reached about 254,000, by […]

NEW YORK (AP) — The Rockefeller Center ice-skating rink is opening in a limited way but on time for the holidays. The iconic, sunken rink in midtown Manhattan is welcoming skaters Saturday afternoon as part of a tradition dating to the 1930s, according to the Rockefeller Center website. The rink is operating at reduced capacity, […]

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is set to soon receive an International Emmy award for his once-daily televised briefings on the coronavirus pandemic that killed tens of thousands of New Yorkers this spring. The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, whose members include media and entertainment figures from over 60 […]

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. decline in cigarette smoking could be stalling while the adult vaping rate appears to be rising, according to a government report released Thursday. About 14% of U.S adults were cigarette smokers last year, the third year in a row the annual survey found that rate. But health officials said […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Police in Israel have exhibited unusually violent behavior in dispersing Chareidi gatherings during the period of coronavirus. At the same time in most cases demonstrations against the prime minister have received much more reserved treatment and were usually allowed to continue unhindered. During a protest by extremist members of the Atra Kadisha […]

MILAN (AP) — A significant number of Italians who want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 should have received their shots by next September, Italy’s special commissioner for the virus emergency said Thursday. Italy is set to receive 3.4 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the second half of January through the European Union’s purchase […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — It took a while but this week even the secular public’s leaders in Israel realized that Chareidim are not “spreaders of disease” but rather principled people who care for their children’s spiritual future. Two prominent secular leaders who cannot be suspected of any sympathy for Chareidim came out with statements buttressing the […]

NEW YORK (AP) — With the coronavirus surging out of control, the nation’s top public health agency advised Americans on Thursday not to travel for Thanksgiving and not to spend the holiday with people from outside their household. It was some of the firmest guidance yet from the government on curtailing traditional gatherings to fight […]

NEW YORK (AP) — With coronavirus cases surging and families hoping to gather safely for Thanksgiving, long lines to get tested have reappeared across the U.S. — a reminder that the nation’s strained testing system remains unable to keep pace with the virus. The delays are happening as the country braces for winter weather, flu […]