The U.S. flu season is underway.

KPRC 2 Investigates is looking into why people end up with bills for hundreds even thousands of dollars for a simple covid test. By federal law covid tests are free regardless of having insurance. So why the high fees? We are getting answers and showing you how to find a free test when you need one.

Health officials say it's important to get flu and COVID-19 vaccines ahead of the holidays when respiratory bugs tend to spread.

Wholesale prices in the United States were unchanged last month in another sign that inflation is returning to something close to normal after years of pressuring America’s households in the wake of COVID-19.

Six U.S. companies will spend at least $350 million to manufacture medical gowns to store in the Strategic National Stockpile.

Americans can once again order COVID-19 tests, without being charged, straight to their homes.

Fall means it’s time for just about everybody to get up to date on their flu and COVID-19 vaccines.

A woman in Austria has been found guilty of fatally infecting her neighbor with COVID-19 in 2021, her second pandemic-related conviction in a year, according to local media.

Various Kelsey-Seybold Clinics are reporting an increase in respiratory and viral infections.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says senior Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to “censor” some COVID-19 content during the pandemic.

Since last March, Taylor Swift has donated the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of meals to help feed the growing number of Americans grappling with rising food and housing costs.

Americans will be able to order up to four COVID-19 nasal swab tests delivered to their home free of charge starting in late September.

School attendance tanked during the pandemic and has only started to recover.

Paris Olympics organizers have issued health recommendations, but no restrictions, for dozens of athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 during the Games.

White House physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor says President Joe Biden’s “symptoms have almost resolved completely” from COVID-19.

An inquiry into the U.K. government's response to COVID-19 found it was ill-prepared for a pandemic and serious errors in planning failed its citizens.

Doctors say not to be alarmed by the rise of COVID-19 cases, as the virus has a pattern of spiking in the summer. Plus, it’s not the only thing causing people to get sick.

President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling in Las Vegas and is experiencing “mild symptoms” from the infection.

As COVID-19 bubbles up in some parts of the country, health officials are setting course for a fall vaccination campaign.

Heat waves might not be the only kind of wave Houstonians have to deal with in the next few weeks, as experts from the Houston Health Department have predicted a potential “Covid Wave” as cases have been slowly increasing over the past five weeks.

Prosecutors say Ndem Oduu, admitted to depositing another person’s stimulus check in his own account, defrauding them of $1,200 that was meant to help the victim weather economic difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you’ve been sick with COVID-19, you may have some protection against certain versions of the common cold.

A global treaty to fight pandemics like COVID is going to have to wait: After more than two years of negotiations, rich and poor countries have failed to come up with a plan for how the world might respond to the next pandemic.

If you’re looking for a little bit of that “Top Gun: Maverick” spectacle and thrill at the movie theater this summer, you’re in luck.

The pharma giant AstraZeneca has requested that the European authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine be pulled.

Authorities say more than a dozen people suffered mostly minor injuries when a tram used for tours crashed into a railing at Universal Studios Hollywood near Los Angeles.

Police in Italy, Austria, Romania and Slovakia have arrested 22 people as part of an investigation into the suspected theft of hundreds millions of euros in post-pandemic relief funds from the European Union.

The nation’s top public health agency is expanding a program that tests international travelers for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

March 11 marks the day four years ago when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools, the CDC says parents can start treating the virus like other respiratory illnesses.

U.S. health officials say Americans with COVID-19 no longer need to stay in isolation for five days.

A fiery debate over public health and personal rights has gripped Puerto Rico as legislators clash with medical experts.

For some people with COVID-19, antiviral pills that can be taken at home can lessen the chances of winding up in the hospital.

Pakistan’s prime minister has called for unified efforts to tackle global infectious diseases like COVID-19 and emergencies caused by climate change, nearly 1 1/2-year after devastating floods killed 1,700 people in his nation.

The flu season in the U.S. is getting worse with 38 states reporting high or very high levels for respiratory illnesses.

More U.S. hospitals are requiring masks and limiting visitors as health officials face a post-holiday spike in flu and other illnesses.

U.S. health officials say flu and COVID-19 infections are expected to ramp up in the coming weeks.

United Memorial Medical Center has agreed to pay $2 million and to make additional contingent payments to resolve alleged False Claims Act violations, the United States Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

Even though cases of COVID-19 have declined considerably since the start of the pandemic, it’s still important to get tested for the virus.

U.S. health officials say flu is picking up steam while RSV lung infections may be peaking.

U.S. life expectancy rose last year, but it still isn’t close to what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

A year ago, Li Houchen was on the streets of Shanghai, hollering “Freedom!”.

COVID-19 variant HV.1 has become the variant responsible for most COVID cases here in the United States in just a few short weeks.

The U.K.'s chief medical adviser has told a public inquiry that Britain’s government was too late in taking action against the coronavirus during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020.

Americans can order four free COVID-19 tests again online.

Patrick Parker Walsh is one of thousands of thieves who perpetrated the greatest grift in U.S. history — potentially plundering more than $280 billion in federal COVID-19 aid.

The legislation, which Republican lawmakers have been trying to pass since 2021, offers no exceptions for doctors’ offices, clinics or other health facilities.

More than a month after federal officials recommended a new version of the COVID-19 vaccines, 7% of U.S. adults and 2% of children have gotten a shot.

Violations could bring a $50,000 fine under an amendment adopted Wednesday. The bill’s sponsor said the ban would be the strongest in the nation.

The Supreme Court says it will indefinitely block a lower court order curbing Biden administration efforts to combat controversial social media posts on topics including COVID-19 and election security.

The bill offers no exceptions for doctors’ offices, clinics or other health facilities. Senators agreed to let those entities require unvaccinated employees to wear personal protective gear or take other “reasonable” measures to manage the spread.

Customers may need a dose of patience at U.S. pharmacy counters as those businesses start their busiest season.

A Houston man who was the head of a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud ring and six of his co-conspirators were sentenced for fraudulently obtaining more than $20 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans that the Small Business Administration guaranteed under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the United States Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

Five Houston men have pleaded guilty to their participation in a scheme to fraudulently obtain and launder millions of dollars in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the United States Department of Justice announced Monday.

The Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded to two scientists whose work led to mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

Two scientists have won the Nobel Prize in medicine for discoveries that enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 and that could be used to develop other shots in the future.

The 2023 Fort Bend County Fair is happening this weekend in Rosenberg!

Households can receive as many as four no-cost tests, delivered for free by the United States Postal Service, which will begin shipping the tests the week of Oct. 2.

The White House says President Joe Biden has gotten the updated COVID-19 vaccine and the annual flu shot.

Pfizer and Moderna say they have sent out millions of doses of the new COVID-19 vaccines in the past week.

The Biden administration has announced that it is providing $600 million in funding to produce new at-home COVID-19 tests and is restarting a website allowing Americans to again order up to four free tests per household.

The public health department in Ottawa County in Michigan is facing deep cuts to its funding.

Republicans are responding to a late summer spike in COVID-19 by raising familiar fears that government-issued lockdowns and mask mandates are on the horizon.

Updated COVID-19 shots are coming soon, part of a trio of fall vaccines that doctors hope will help avoid another “tripledemic."

The CDC continues to track B.A.2.86. The new COVID variant has been detected in several countries, including the United States. Local doctors say the Houston area is seeing an uptick in patients with the COVID virus.

The Food and Drug Administration plans to greenlight updated versions of the Covid booster as early as Friday, according to four people familiar with the agency’s plans.

President Joe Biden turned up in a mask for the first time in months on Tuesday, a day after his wife tested positive for COVID-19.

The COVID-19 virus is ever-changing and continuously evolves over time.

A brand new COVID variant labeled “BA.2.86″ has now been identified and reported in Texas.

A federal appeals court in New Orleans has revived a lawsuit by three doctors who say the Food and Drug Administration overstepped its authority in a campaign against the use of a drug that is not approved to treat COVID-19.

At Texas Children’s Hospital, doctors said there are currently hospitalized babies with RSV and COVID.While CVS MinuteClinic practitioners say the main viruses driving patients into their clinics are COVID and strep throat.

John McEnroe has COVID-19 and is missing time as ESPN’s lead tennis analyst for its U.S. Open television coverage.

President Joe Biden said Friday that he is planning to request more money from Congress to develop another new coronavirus vaccine, as scientists track new waves and hospitalizations rise, though not like before.

The CDC’s most recent data shows that the percentage of weekly hospitalizations per 100,000 people in Harris County due to COVID-19 has increased more than state and national rates.

COVID-19 has taken a toll on the nation's heart health but how profound is only starting to emerge.

COVID-19 hospital admissions are inching upward in the United States since early July.

The National Institutes of Health is starting some studies to test possible treatments for long COVID.

A U.K. court has rejected the British government’s request to keep former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages and diaries from being made public at an official COVID-19 inquiry.

China says 239 people died from COVID-19 in June in a significant uptick months after it lifted most containment measures.

The World Health Organization’s Europe director says nearly 36 million people in the region may have long-lasting health problems from coronavirus infections they got during the first three years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new U.S. intelligence report rejects several points raised by those who argue COVID-19 leaked from a Chinese lab.

Asian shares are mostly lower as some investors take a wait-and-see attitude after U.S. markets were closed for a national holiday.

Ashish Jha, the White House’s point person on the COVID-19 response, will depart from the administration next week.

The bill, recently signed by Gov. Greg Abbott and set to take effect Sept. 1, does not restrict pandemic rules by private entities.

A U.S. study suggests 1 in 10 people are getting long COVID after an omicron infection, a lower estimate than earlier in the pandemic.

U.S. health regulators have given full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill Paxlovid.

Lawmakers in several states are looking to loosen child labor laws, even as the federal government cracks down on surging violations.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has tested positive for COVID-19 for the first time after returning home from work trips in Africa and Asia.

The World Health organization declared earlier this month that the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer an emergency, putting a three-year end to the virus that killed at least 7 million people and turned the world upside down.

A former Kansas lawmaker who was convicted of 12 felonies for lying on applications for federal COVID-19 relief has been sentenced to more than two years and three months in prison.

Pandemic-era rules on COVID-19 testing for White House journalists are being loosened as the public health emergency declaration expires Thursday.

Top U.N. officials and health industry leaders are demanding that the world invest more to develop new vaccines and tackle a surge in tuberculosis fueled by the impact of COVID-19 and conflicts including Ukraine and Sudan.

The World Health Organization says COVID-19 is no longer a global emergency but the coronavirus is here to stay.

The World Health Organization says that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency.

U.S. deaths fell last year, and COVID-19 dropped to the No. 4 cause.

After over three years, the COVID-19 pandemic is officially over.

Mexican officials are crowing about the country finally developing its own COVID-19 vaccine, more than two years after inoculations from the U.S., Europe and China were rolled out.

Wisconsin’s conservative-controlled Supreme Court ruled a hospital couldn't be forced to give a deworming drug to a patient with COVID-19, saying a county judge did not cite a legal basis for ordering the facility to administer ivermectin.

Long an opponent of vaccine and mask mandates, the Republican said pharmaceutical companies may have misrepresented data. Pfizer strongly disagrees.

The first years of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a huge decline in high school students having sex.