Tag: pandemic

U.S. population growth dipped to its lowest rate since the nation’s founding during the first year of the pandemic as the coronavirus curtailed immigration, delayed pregnancies and killed hundreds of thousands of U.S. residents, according to figures released Tuesday.

The new omicron coronavirus mutant speeding around the world may bring another wave of chaos, threatening to further stretch hospital workers already struggling with a surge of delta cases and upend holiday plans for the second year in a row.

After a slow start, the United States has improved its surveillance system for tracking new coronavirus variants such as omicron, boosting its capacity by tens of thousands of samples per week since early this year.

Nearly two years after the emergence of the virus that causes COVID-19, a variant of the virus called Omicron is raising concerns around the world. Transmission checked in with some of Columbia Mailman School’s top experts in virology, emerging infectious diseases, epidemiology, and the global response to pandemics to answer questions about the variant, including its potential risks and what we can do to protect ourselves.

Cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus popped up in countries on opposite sides of the world Sunday and many governments rushed to close their borders even as scientists cautioned that it's not clear if the new variant is more alarming than other versions of the virus.