Live: Coronavirus daily news updates, April 2: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear has been toting oversize checks round his state in latest weeks, handing them out to metropolis and county officers for desperately wanted water enhancements.

The tiny metropolis of Mortons Hole, Kentucky, obtained $109,000 to deliver working water to 6 households who do not need it. The individuals of Martin County, whose water has been too contaminated to drink since a coal slurry spill 20 years in the past, obtained $411,000. The checks bear Beshear’s signature, however the cash comes from the federal authorities, a part of an enormous infusion of coronavirus reduction assist that’s serving to to gasoline report funds surpluses in Kentucky and plenty of different states.

Therein lies a Washington controversy. The funds, which Congress accredited at a second when the pandemic was nonetheless raging, are allowed for use for a lot broader functions than combating the virus, together with water tasks like these in Kentucky. Most states will get one other spherical of “fiscal restoration funds” — a part of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan — subsequent month.

However in Washington, Biden is out of cash to pay for essentially the most primary technique of defending individuals in the course of the pandemic: drugs, vaccines, testing and reimbursement for care. Republicans have refused to log off on new spending, citing the state restoration funds for instance of cash that may very well be repurposed for pressing nationwide priorities.

“These states are awash in cash — all people from Kentucky to California,” mentioned Scott Jennings, a former aide to Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the minority chief. “Individuals are like, ‘We’ve printed all this cash; we’ve despatched it out. These states have these large surpluses, and now you want extra?’”

Learn the complete story right here.

Hackers linked to North Korea had been suspected of finishing up a cyberattack on South Koreans by emails disguised as official messages despatched from a medical journal calling on recipients to e-book appointments for a brand new coronavirus vaccine, a South Korean cybersecurity firm mentioned in a press release Friday.

The cyberattack, which got here lower than per week after North Korea carried out its strongest intercontinental ballistic missile check up to now, was despatched from an e-mail deal with belonging to the Korean Society for Well being Promotion and Illness Prevention, the corporate mentioned. This was potential as a result of the hackers had infiltrated the medical journal’s server and e-mail account in what the corporate, ESTsecurity, referred to as a phishing assault.

“We now have confirmed that the camouflage strategies and tactical instructions used to steal the account precisely matched the opposite instances of cyberattacks linked to North Korea,” the corporate mentioned, including that the e-mail’s header contained a code present in earlier assaults that analysts have linked to North Korea.

Beforehand, North Korean hackers have used cyberattacks on governments, corporations and monetary establishments to steal info and thousands and thousands of {dollars} to fund their very own authorities. ESTsecurity has additionally attributed to North Korea comparable phishing assaults despatched from e-mail addresses belonging to businesses such because the Ministry of Protection and the Ministry of Unification.

The newest e-mail assault focused principally South Koreans working in fields coping with North Korea, the corporate mentioned, and seemed to be designed to trick the recipients into offering private info to the hackers by making them imagine they had been registering for the brand new vaccine.

Learn the complete story right here.

Whereas COVID vaccinations elevated cardiac dangers in some younger males, the virus itself was more likely to trigger coronary heart issues, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention present in a research launched Friday.

“The danger for cardiac issues was considerably increased after SARS-CoV-2 an infection than after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination for each men and women in all age teams,” the CDC mentioned in a research abstract.

COVID vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna had been linked to increased threat for issues together with myocarditis and pericarditis. The Moderna vaccine nonetheless has not been accredited for anybody underneath age 18.

In response to the CDC, earlier analysis had established hyperlinks between each COVID and COVID vaccines to myocarditis and comparable coronary heart irritation situations. However Friday’s research was the primary to instantly evaluate them and produce a convincing reply: COVID was worse.

Myocarditis and pericarditis linked to the vaccine had been seen most frequently in boys between the ages of 12 and 17 after the second dose, based on the research. However even for these kids, COVID was 1.8 to five.6-times extra prone to trigger coronary heart issues.

The research included a number of million completely different individuals and was carried out from January 2021 to January 2022.

On the finish of February 2022, the CDC started recommending an eight-week hole between first and second doses for boys over age 12 and younger males.

NEW YORK — Confusion erupted Friday over whether or not the town’s youngest youngsters ought to put on face masks in class, as Mayor Adams vowed to maintain a mandate in place for the toddlers regardless of a courtroom ruling that struck down the requirement as unenforceable.

Final week, Adams vowed to raise the masks rule for teenagers underneath 5 this coming Monday so long as an infection charges remained low.

However in a briefing at Metropolis Corridor on Friday afternoon, Adams mentioned he wouldn’t comply with by with dropping the toddler mandate in any case in mild of an uptick in COVID-19 infections within the 5 boroughs pushed by the extremely contagious BA.2 omicron subvariant of the virus.

“I’ll proceed to say to oldsters: You need to preserve your masks in your youngsters,” Adams advised reporters.

Simply hours earlier, nonetheless, Staten Island Supreme Court docket Justice Ralph Porzio rescinded the face protecting requirement for teenagers underneath 5 with speedy impact, declaring in a ruling that it’s “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable.”

Again at Metropolis Corridor, Adams mentioned his administration was already drawing up an enchantment asking the next courtroom to overturn Porzio’s ruling in order that the town can require the kids to maintain their masks on.

Learn the complete story right here.

BEIJING (AP) — Hong Kong authorities Saturday requested your complete inhabitants of greater than 7.4 million individuals to voluntarily check themselves for COVID-19 at dwelling for 3 days in a row beginning subsequent week.

The announcement by Chief Government Carrie Lam got here because the southern Chinese language metropolis is struggling to comprise its worst outbreak with authorities sending combined indicators about testing and lockdowns.

Lam mentioned a “obligatory, common check” of the entire inhabitants continues to be important, however didn’t say when that may occur. Authorities shelved the thought after a earlier announcement precipitated panic shopping for.

The prospect of additional college closures and different disruptions has the federal government caught between requires loosening restrictions and Beijing’s demand for an excessive “zero-COVID” method mandating lockdowns and mass testing.

Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous territory, on Friday lifted a ban on residents returning aboard flights from 9 international locations the place COVID-19 instances have surged, together with Britain and the U.S.

Hong Kong reported one other 5,820 instances Friday as the newest surge begins to taper off.

Learn the complete story right here.

A Tri-Cities restaurant that made headlines for refusing to adjust to COVID-19 restrictions in the course of the peak of the pandemic has closed for good, citing the pandemic, inflation and President Joe Biden himself.

Koko’s Bartini introduced on social media final week it might shut Saturday, March 26, however the restaurant ended up shutting down Friday night due to staffing points.

“Closed” indicators had been positioned on the door of the enterprise and over the restaurant’s hours, together with a small image of Biden saying, “I did that.”

A variation of the identical picture was additionally posted on its Fb web page. There additionally was an indication on the door stating “Koko’s Bartini won’t violate your HIPAA rights — your physique, your selection — come on in.”

Proprietor Dana Slovak advised the Tri-Metropolis Herald in an e-mail that they’ll miss all their trustworthy prospects.

“The challenges with COVID 2020 12 months, battle in 2021 reopening, and now inflation has crippled Koko’s to a monetary level. You gotta know when to carry them, and when to fold them,” Slovak mentioned. “Due to all our Koko’s followers and their patriotism these previous struggling 3 years.”

Learn the complete story right here.

LONDON (AP) — The prevalence of COVID-19 within the U.Okay. has reached report ranges, with about 1 in 13 individuals estimated to be contaminated with the virus prior to now week, based on the newest figures from Britain’s official statistics company.

Some 4.9 million individuals had been estimated to have the coronavirus within the week ending March 26, up from 4.3 million recorded within the earlier week, the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics mentioned Friday. The newest surge is pushed by the extra transmissible omicron variant BA.2, which is the dominant variant throughout the U.Okay.

Hospitalizations and dying charges are once more rising, though the variety of individuals dying with COVID-19 continues to be comparatively low in contrast with earlier this 12 months. Nonetheless, the newest estimates recommend that the steep climb in new infections since late February, when British Prime Minister Boris Johnson scrapped all remaining coronavirus restrictions in England, has continued effectively into March.

The figures got here on the identical day the federal government ended free fast COVID-19 exams for most individuals in England, underneath Johnson’s “residing with COVID” plan. Individuals who do not need well being situations that make them extra weak to the virus now must pay for exams to seek out out if they’re contaminated.

“The federal government’s ‘residing with COVID’ technique of eradicating any mitigations, isolation, free testing and a substantial slice of our surveillance quantities to nothing greater than ignoring this virus going forwards,” mentioned Stephen Griffin, affiliate professor on the College of Leeds’ medical college.

Learn the complete story right here.