The U.S. flu season is underway.

Cases of norovirus, a highly contagious stomach bug, are climbing in the Northeastern U.S. Nationwide, about 12% of most recent norovirus tests sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were positive.

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 at least seven states are seeing high levels of the flu and that cases are rising in other parts of the country.

Flu is decreasing in many parts of the country after an alarmingly early and strong start to the season.

U.S. health officials say some people getting Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines should consider waiting up to eight weeks between the first and second doses.

Average daily COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are continuing to fall in the U.S., an indicator that the omicron variant’s hold is weakening across the country.

An early look at the performance of COVID-19 booster shots during the recent omicron wave in the U.S. showed a decline in effectiveness against severe cases, though the shots still offered strong protection.

If you test positive for COVID-19, you should isolate at home, stay away from others and tell the people you’ve been in close contact with.

The U.S. has seen a string of COVID-19 outbreaks tied to summer camps in recent weeks in places such as Texas, Illinois, Florida, Missouri and Kansas, offering what some fear could be a preview of the upcoming school year.

The U.S. has seen a string of COVID-19 outbreaks tied to summer camps in recent weeks in places such as Texas, Illinois, Florida, Missouri and Kansas, offering what some fear could be a preview of the upcoming school year.

Pfizer says it is about to seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine.

Can I take painkillers before or after a COVID-19 vaccine? The concern about painkillers is that they might curb the very immune system response that a vaccine aims to spur. AdThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated its guidance to recommend against painkillers before a COVID-19 shot. Read more here:What should I know about COVID-19 vaccines if I’m pregnant? How do we know the COVID-19 vaccines are safe?

Sometimes people who just happen to be near a clinic at closing time are offered leftover shots that would otherwise be thrown away. Mike Schotte, 53, and his 72-year-old mother started showing up at pharmacies near their home in Hurst, Texas, in hopes of getting a leftover shot. “I’m excited that I got it.”Nashville started its lottery system to avoid more haphazard ways of distributing leftover shots. Vaccine clinics expect only a few leftover doses, at most, on any given day. Vials of the Pfizer vaccine contain five doses – and sometimes an extra one – and Moderna's contain 10.

FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2020, file photo, a worker wearing gloves, and other PPE holds a tablet computer as he waits to check people at a King County coronavirus testing site in Auburn, Wash., south of Seattle. The latest surge in U.S. coronavirus cases appears to be larger and more widespread than the two previous ones, and it is all but certain to get worse. But experts say there are also reasons to think the nation is better able to deal with the virus this time around. Several states posted records Tuesday, including over 12,600 new cases in Illinois, 10,800 in Texas and 7,000 in Wisconsin. Governors made increasingly desperate pleas for people to take the fight against the virus more seriously.

NEW YORK – U.S. health officials Wednesday redefined what counts as close contact with someone with COVID-19 to include briefer but repeated encounters. For months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said close contact meant spending a solid 15 minutes within 6 feet of someone who tested positive for coronavirus. The CDC advises anyone who has been in close contact with a COVID-19 patient to quarantine for two weeks. In a statement, CDC officials said the case highlights again the importance of wearing masks to prevent transmission, and that the agency's guidance can change as new information comes in. The CDC also says close contact can include hugging and kissing, sharing eating or drinking utensils with someone infected, and providing home care to someone who is sick.

It’s a strikingly different landscape from 2008, when Nashville last hosted a presidential debate between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican challenger John McCain at Belmont University. Fast-forward to a year of unprecedented disruption to live music and other public gatherings, and Tennessee health officials are now reporting record-breaking virus numbers in the days leading up to the debate. But Belmont University President Bob Fisher says canceling the debate never crossed his mind. He says he was always confident Belmont could pull off the debate, even in a pandemic. Approximately 150 people are expected in the debate hall, including up to 35 Belmont students working as ushers.

Facing public skepticism about rushed COVID-19 vaccines, U.S. health officials are planning extra scrutiny of the first people vaccinated when shots become available — an added safety layer experts call vital. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found only 46% of Americans want a COVID-19 vaccine and another 29% are unsure. Looking back at vaccines for other diseases, side effects show up within two to three months, said FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks. Then it would take FDA several weeks of breakneck work to decide if a COVID-19 vaccine really was suitable for emergency use, Marks said. And states including New York, Rhode Island and Virginia are forming advisory committees to review the safety of any COVID-19 vaccines that pass FDA.

NEW YORK – President Donald Trump said Thursday he doesn't think he's contagious anymore, but medical experts say that's impossible to know a week after his diagnosis with COVID-19. But there's no way to know for certain that someone is no longer contagious so soon after falling ill, experts say. Earlier in the day, Trump said he was still taking dexamethasone, a steroid that can reduce fevers. His doctors haven't held a press conference since Trump left the hospital, only releasing statements with limited information. They have not released any details about his test results, including when Trump last had a negative virus test before he got sick.

President Donald Trumps startling COVID-19 diagnosis serves as a cruel reminder of the pervasive spread of the coronavirus in the United States and shows how tenuous of a grip the nation has on the crisis, health experts said. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)President Donald Trump’s startling COVID-19 diagnosis serves as a cruel reminder of the pervasive spread of the coronavirus and shows how tenuous of a grip the nation has on the crisis, health experts said. Some of Trump's top advisers and allies also have tested positive recently. Some hospitals in Wisconsin have run low on space, and experts warned of a likely surge in infections during the colder months ahead. Colder weather is also on the way, which will likely increase the chances people will congregate together indoors,” Michaud said.

HOUSTON National health experts are worried about what they call a twindemic this season. Health experts said they are concerned that flu season and COVID-19 pandemic could collide this year. Infectious Disease Specialist William Schaffner, MD, recommends getting the vaccine between mid-September and early November. Doctors added that even if you do get sick despite getting the vaccine it will be less severe. Experts say that this years flu vaccine will protect against four strains of the flu instead of three as in previous years.

The torrid coronavirus summer across the Sun Belt is easing after two disastrous months that brought more than 35,000 deaths. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)The torrid coronavirus summer across the Sun Belt is easing after two disastrous months that brought more than 35,000 deaths. Whether the outbreak will heat up again after Labor Day and the resumption of school and football remains to be seen. Now they worry that Labor Day will contribute to the virus's spread. If we were to see the same effect from Labor Day, we would be in worse shape than we were after July Fourth, said Williamson.

It's an outcome no one wants, but could become a "harsh reality": a second wave of shutdowns. The economic toll from one round of shutdowns has been staggering. More than 44 million people in the United States have filed for initial unemployment benefits since mid-March. More than 115,000 Americans have died from coronavirus, and hundreds more are dying from the virus every day. How Americans can prevent another round of shutdownsWhile states try to revive the economy, the fate of this pandemic is largely up to individuals.

These are some of the tips in long-awaited guidance from U.S. health officials about how to reduce risk of coronavirus infection for Americans who are attempting some semblance of normal life. These guidelines are really directed toward ordinary Americans trying to make decisions about risk every day.But there are notable omissions. The CDC has put out many sets of guidelines, including some for churches, camps, schools and transit agencies. State or local governments may want to reimpose stricter measures if new outbreaks occur, but that's a call for them to make, CDC officials said. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education.

But that process, known as contact tracing, relies on people knowing who theyve been in contact with a daunting task if theyve been to a mass gathering. These events that are happening now are further threats to the trust we need, said Dr. Sandro Galea, dean of the Boston University School of Public Health. And those are the communities that have been hardest hit by the coronavirus in the U.S. and most in need of public health measures to help control it. That is not what contact tracing is, said Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Contact tracing is a service to patients and their contacts to provide services for patients and warning for contacts.

Beaches are reopening at a swift rate in some of the United States' sun-soaked southern states. More beaches are openingPanama City Beach on Friday joins a growing number of Florida beaches open for limited hours. Most beaches are open for limited hours and only for non-stationary exercise such as walking, jogging or swimming. On Jacksonville, Florida, beaches last Friday, those measures seemed erratic at best. "My experience of beaches is that unless the beaches are remote, you will find real difficulty in keeping to the six-foot rule," he said.

(CNN) – A prestigious scientific panel told the White House Tuesday that it doesn't look like coronavirus will go away once the weather warms up. President Trump has claimed that "when it gets a little warmer [the virus] miraculously goes away." President Trump has said coronavirus will recede with warmer weather. "Looks like in April, you know in theory when it gets a little warmer it miraculously goes away," he said. The letter points out that in the real world, the virus is still transmitting in countries with warm weather.