4-5-22 President Biden ordered a new research initiative across federal agencies to understand the overlap between COVID and neurological harm. In some ways, examining what COVID has to do with the brain is really a proxy for understanding the immune system’s effect on the brain. COVID can induce an immune response in the brain, which may explain why some people develop brain fog and memory loss. This may mirror what is happening in the brains of people with Alzheimer's.

4-13-22 The prime ministers of Sweden and Finland, countries where neutrality and military non-alliance are deeply woven into their cultures, shocked the world by issuing a joint statement that, thanks to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they were considering applying for membership in NATO.

4-16-22 There’s no doubt U.S. COVID cases are rising, said Dr. Stuart Ray, from Johns Hopkins’ Department of Medicine—but by how much, it’s hard to say. Previous eras of the pandemic “aspired to a monolithic data collection strategy” in which tests were centrally reported to authorities. But results of at-home tests in the U.S., now widely available, aren’t tracked. Some with COVID don’t test because they don’t want to, or don’t have access to testing. And others with COVID don’t test because they don't know they have it. Case counts and wastewater data in Massachusetts during the Delta wave look very similar to case counts and wastewater data in Massachusetts now, Chakravarty said, leading him to believe that current COVID numbers "aren’t massively deflated.”

4-18-22 A federal judge in Florida struck down the mask mandate on planes and other forms of public transportation. Most major airlines — including American, Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska, Spirit and JetBlue — swiftly announced that masks were no longer required on domestic flights and certain international flights.

4-21-22 Another possibly faster-growing version of Omicron is quickly making inroads. The new Omicron sublineage BA.2.12.1 now accounts for 19% of all new cases specifically sequenced for variants in the country. Barely on the national radar two weeks ago, the new strain is now being identified in close to 1 in 5 newly-sequenced cases, up from 1.5% less than a month before on 3/19. This increased transmissibility may be because BA.2.12.1 has not only the omicron BA.2 variant mutation but two more mutations. One of these makes the virus replicate a bit better (S704L). The other (L452Q) makes it resist prior immunity.

4-24-22 St. Peter's hospital limits visitation due to high local COVID rates.

4-25-22 Albany County Department of Health is issuing an official public health advisory, strongly recommending mask wearing in indoor public spaces and private businesses.

4-28-22 Moderna said it had asked the F.D.A. to authorize its coronavirus vaccine for children under 6, making it the first manufacturer to do so.

4-28-22 Dr. Fauci said that the acute ("severe and sudden") component of the pandemic phase is over in the U.S.

4-29-22 The vaccinated made up 42% of fatalities in January and February during the omicron surge, compared with 23% of the dead in September, the peak of the delta wave. Unvaccinated remain far more vulnerable to the worst consequences of infection - and are far more likely to die - than people who are vaccinated, especially compared to those who received a booster shot. Nearly two-thirds of the people who died during the omicron surge were 75 and older.