St. Patrick's Day in Savannah welcomes back big crowds: `We needed this’

Thousands in green T-shirts, bowler hats, feather boas, with nary a mask in sight, crowded shoulder-to-shoulder along sidewalks and inside bustling bars Thursday as the South’s largest St. Patrick's Day parade returned in Savannah following a two-year coronavirus hiatus.

Pfizer COVID antiviral: Dozens of companies to start making pill

Nearly three dozen companies in Asia, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Eastern Europe will soon start making either generic versions of Pfizer's coronavirus pill or the raw ingredients. This deal will make the antiviral nirmatrelvir, or Paxlovoid, available to more than half of the world's population.

London’s Heathrow Airport drops indoor mask mandate

“The removal of the mandatory requirement reflects society’s move towards learning to live with COVID longer term,” airport officials said in a statement.

US retail spending slows as inflation starts to bite

After beginning the year in a buying mood, Americans slowed their spending in February on gadgets, home furnishings and other discretionary items as higher prices for food, gasoline, and shelter are taking a bigger bite out of their wallet.

FEMA's funeral assistance aid for COVID-19 tops $2B, more eligible

The federal government has provided more than $2 billion to help cover funeral costs for more than 300,000 families of people who died from COVID-19.

3 COVID-19 tests recalled after FDA warns about ‘high risk’ of false results

LuSys Laboratories issued the recall this week for three of its COVID-19 tests. The FDA believes they were distributed for use in laboratories and for at-home testing.

US public schools to stop serving free meals to all students once pandemic waiver expires

Public schools have been serving all students free meals during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that is likely coming to an end this summer after federal funding was not extended.

China locks down city of 9 million amid new spike in COVID-19 cases

Residents of Changchun are required to remain home with one family member allowed to venture out to buy food and other necessities every two days.

When will COVID-19 end? Experts look to past pandemics for clues

One thing experts have learned is that it can be a long drawn-out process. This includes different types of endings that may not all occur at the same time.

US to ease nationwide mask mandate on planes, buses next month

The requirement, which extends to planes, buses, trains and transit hubs, had been set to expire on March 18, but was extended by a month to allow the public health agency time to develop new, more targeted policies.

CDC director expects COVID-19 to become a 'seasonal virus'

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said she anticipates COVID-19 will become a seasonal virus. 

California officials raided preschool, interviewed 2-year-olds over mask policies

California state regulators conducted an investigation at a Southern California preschool and privately interviewed children as young as 2 without their parents’ consent about their masking practices.

Which states have lifted mask mandates

With the omicron variant of COVID-19 waning and Americans eager to move beyond the virus, government and business leaders have been out ahead of the CDC in ending virus measures.

Mask mandate will continue at Clayton County Schools through summer

Clayton County Public Schools says they will continue with their current COVID-19 protocols, including a mask mandate, through the end of the year.