GENEVA — The head of emergencies at the World Health Organization said Tuesday that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic — deaths, hospitalizations and lockdowns — could be over this year if huge inequities in vaccinations and medicines are addressed quickly.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — GOP Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says he has no regrets about his response to the coronavirus pandemic even if Republican voters who thought he went too far are angry enough to vote him out in the upcoming May primary.

Shortages at U.S. grocery stores have grown more acute in recent weeks as new problems — like the fast-spreading omicron variant and severe weather — have piled on to the supply chain struggles and labor shortages that have plagued retailers since the coronavirus pandemic began.

CHARLESTON — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, his office announced.

Shortages at U.S. grocery stores have grown more acute in recent weeks as new problems — like the fast-spreading omicron variant and severe weather — have piled on to the supply chain struggles and labor shortages that have plagued retailers since the coronavirus pandemic began.

CHARLESTON — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, his office announced.

WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, angrily accused a senator Tuesday of making false accusations that are leading to threats against him — all to raise political cash.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Friday he hopes everyone receives the coronavirus vaccine, but it should be a person’s choice, not the result of a government mandate.

As the raging omicron variant of COVID-19 infects workers across the nation, millions of those whose jobs don’t provide paid sick days are having to choose between their health and their paycheck.

WASHINGTON — Fully vaccinated and mostly masked, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared skeptical Friday of the Biden administration’s authority to impose a vaccine-or-testing requirement on the nation’s large employers. The court seemed more open to a separate vaccine mandate fo…

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Governors took sweeping actions during earlier surges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many closed schools and ordered businesses shut down. They issued mask mandates, vaccine requirements and even quarantines in some places for people who had traveled to out-of-state hot spots.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine and first lady Fran DeWine on Thursday met with members of the Ohio National Guard deploying to hospitals as the coronavirus surge continues to put pressure on medical caregivers statewide.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear revealed plans Wednesday night to deliver an assistance package for Kentucky communities devastated by recent tornadoes, vowing to “rebuild every structure and every life” in a speech that stressed the state’s resilience to recover from disaster.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky reported 9,807 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, a single-day record for the state since the beginning of the pandemic, Gov. Andy Beshear said. Roughly 21% of Wednesday’s cases were in Kentuckians 18 and under.

MORGANTOWN — West Virginia University is returning to a policy of requiring masks to be worn indoors on campus and has ordered students, faculty and staff to verify their vaccination status due to a surge in coronavirus cases statewide.

Hospitals across the U.S. are feeling the wrath of the omicron variant and getting thrown into disarray that is different from earlier COVID-19 surges.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky’s Legislature convened Tuesday for the start of a 60-day session, with Republican lawmakers firmly in control of the agenda even as COVID-19 remained a potential disruption, with one senator announcing he tested positive for the virus before his colleagues assembled.

The U.S. is expanding COVID-19 boosters as it confronts the omicron surge, with the Food and Drug Administration allowing extra Pfizer shots for children as young as 12.

With COVID-19 cases surging just as students are about to return from winter break, dozens of U.S. colleges are moving classes online again for at least the first week or so of the semester — and some warn it could stretch longer if the wave of infection doesn’t subside soon.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 hit a pandemic record high in Ohio on Thursday for the second day running, as data shows new coronavirus cases also remain at historic levels.

NEW YORK — New York City will ring in 2022 in Times Square as planned despite record numbers of COVID-19 infections in the city, the state and across the nation, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.

SEATTLE — The omicron-fueled surge that is sending COVID-19 cases rocketing in the U.S. is putting children in the hospital in record numbers, and experts lament that most of the youngsters are not vaccinated.

CHARLESTON — A COVID-19 surge since Christmas has brought confirmed daily cases in West Virginia to levels not seen in three months, and health officials on Thursday expressed concern that New Year’s get-togethers could make the situation worse.

She became a vaccine celebrity by accident.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky has reported a record COVID-19 test positivity rate of 14.46%, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Wednesday.

CHICAGO — More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have soared to their highest level on record at over 265,000 per day on average, a surge driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 has reached a pandemic record high in Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday as he ordered additional members of the state National Guard into hospitals to help with the surge. The state also saw another record number of new …

WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials’ decision to shorten the recommended COVID-19 isolation and quarantine period from 10 days to five is drawing criticism from some medical experts and could create more confusion and fear among Americans.

NEW YORK — U.S. health officials on Monday cut isolation restrictions for Americans who catch the coronavirus from 10 to five days, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine.

Christmas arrived around the world Saturday amid a surge in COVID-19 infections that kept many families apart, overwhelmed hospitals and curbed religious observances as the pandemic was poised to stretch into a third year.