face masks
WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Tuesday that it is relaxing face mask requirements at all of its medical facilities. Beginning Tuesday, face masks were no longer required in most clinical areas of these facilities. “Now that the... Read More
WASHINGTON — The Dept. of Veterans Affairs is relaxing COVID-era masking rules at its medical facilities in an attempt, it says, to better accommodate individual preferences. Moving forward, the department said it will base its masking guidelines on the Veterans... Read More
WASHINGTON — The National Book Festival resumes in person this Labor Day weekend after being a virtual-only event during the height of the COVID pandemic. The much-anticipated event returns to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Saturday, Sept. 3... Read More
WASHINGTON — The new school year starts within weeks with questions about what protections against COVID-19 will be required of students still unresolved in many states and counties. Most states have eliminated vaccine requirements but some cling to masks, either as... Read More
TAMPA, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida struck down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s mask mandate for travel on Monday, less than a week after the agency extended the public health mandate through May 3. In her... Read More
LYNCHBURG, Va. — A federal judge’s ruling this week modifies a Virginia law abolishing mask mandates in public schools. U.S. District Judge Norman Moon ruled that schools with 12 students who have health conditions that make them vulnerable to COVID-19... Read More
WASHINGTON — It’ll be masks off for President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address on Tuesday as the House is lifting the mask mandate that has been in place almost since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Brian... Read More
Most Americans live in places where healthy people, including students in schools, can safely take a break from wearing masks under new U.S. guidelines released Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlined the new set of measures for... Read More
WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautioned again this week that it is too soon to stop wearing masks in a warning ignored by many states tired of limitations imposed by COVID-19. Meanwhile, an exodus of health... Read More
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch took the unusual step Wednesday of releasing a joint public statement to refute a news report that stated a COVID-related rift has erupted between them. In recent days, Sotomayor, who... Read More
SAN ANTONIO — COVID-19 infection rates continue to complicate the school year as some districts have either delayed their start dates or shifted to virtual learning in response to the growing spike in cases. As many schools nationwide have either... Read More
WASHINGTON — A warning Monday from the attending physician for Congress about skyrocketing COVID-19 cases is compelling lawmakers and Capitol Hill staff members to rethink their meeting schedules and masking guidelines. A letter Dr. Brian P. Monahan wrote to House... Read More
WASHINGTON - Mayor Muriel Bowser said Tuesday the District of Columbia will lift its indoor mask mandate on Monday, Nov. 22. During a late morning press conference, the message from Bowser and other city officials was “we’re learning to live... Read More
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has expanded litigation efforts against a swath of school districts that defied Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates. Paxton announced on Tuesday his office had filed lawsuits against the Paris, Diboll,... Read More
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has appealed a judge's ruling that the governor exceeded his authority by ordering school boards not to impose strict mask requirements on students to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The... Read More
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The order issued by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday that blocked public schools from imposing mask mandates in the classroom was struck down by Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper. DeSantis’s order had been challenged in... Read More
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Just over half of Florida's 2.8 million public school students now face mandates to wear masks in classrooms as a courtroom battle continues over efforts by Gov. Ron DeSantis to leave such decisions up to... Read More
NEW YORK -- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to announce new guidelines for the reopening of city schools that will require every Department of Education employee to have received at least one dose of the coronavirus... Read More
WASHINGTON -- The Department of Education will invoke its civil rights enforcement authority to prevent states from imposing universal bans on wearing face masks in classrooms, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said on Wednesday. The decision represents a dramatic escalation of... Read More
RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed an emergency order last Thursday requiring that face masks be worn in all indoor settings in the state's K-12 schools. The move comes after a handful of school districts in recent days... Read More
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — With the highly contagious delta variant fueling a surge in coronavirus cases just as students return to classrooms, major school districts in Arizona, Florida, Texas and beyond are increasingly defying Republican leaders who banned school... Read More
WASHINGTON- Education Secretary Miguel Cardono warned Thursday, Americans should not allow adult politics -- particularly the politicizing of the wearing of face masks -- to prevent students from returning to school safely and without future disruptions. “You know what I’m... Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — Several House Democrats have called on House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy to apologize to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or resign after audio surfaced of him saying at a weekend fundraiser that it would be "hard not to... Read More
Face masks will once again be required indoors in the District of Columbia, a reversal of recent policy driven by new federal guidelines that recommend indoor masking in areas where transmission of the coronavirus is high. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced... Read More
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday afternoon said fully vaccinated people should now wear face masks if they live or work in a location experiencing a surge in delta variant cases. The new guidance effectively reverses a... Read More
California and New York City announced Monday that they would require all government employees to get the coronavirus vaccine or face weekly COVID-19 testing, and the Department of Veterans Affairs became the first major federal agency to require health care... Read More
ST. LOUIS — City and county leaders in St. Louis announced Friday they are reinstituting mask mandates for vaccinated and unvaccinated citizens alike, a decision already set to be challenged in court by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt. The mandate... Read More
LOS ANGELES- Everyone, whether or not they're fully vaccinated, will have to wear a mask indoors, according to an order from Los Angeles County, by far the largest county by population in California, the U.S.'s most populated state. The county... Read More
WASHINGTON - The Washington Monument will reopen to the public on Wednesday, July 14 at 9 a.m. after a six-month closure, the National Parks Service announced Monday. The monument will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to... Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene apologized Monday for affronting people with recent comments comparing the required wearing of safety masks in the House to the horrors of the Holocaust. "I'm truly sorry for offending people with remarks about... Read More
