Coronavirus

A federal judge in St. Louis on Monday temporarily barred the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from requiring health care workers in 10 other states to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

A Missouri judge has barred local health departments from issuing orders to protect people during the coronavirus pandemic.

Though holiday case numbers so far remain well below those from 2020, the COVID trendlines appear similar.

Before the pandemic, 28% of students were below grade level in math. After the pandemic, that number shot to about 34%. In language arts, the falling-behind number went from 27% to just over 30%.

Lawmakers used a one-day special session to approve the bill to allow no-questions-asked exemptions to vaccine requirements and fine Kansas businesses that don't comply.

Dr. Lee Norman was the face of public health through the COVID-19 pandemic. That also made him a target of criticism from Republicans. He also faced internal tension with Gov. Laura Kelly's administration.

The FDA on Friday granted emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna booster shots. The boosters have already been available for people 65 and older and to high-risk adults.

Public health and legal experts warn that passing new laws to strengthen religious exemptions in order to fight the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandates could sow chaos and hurt Kansas.

On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Senior Services issued a hotspot advisory, the first in almost a month, for seven counties in northwest Missouri.

The Tenant Representation Initiative, created by the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, has saved hundreds of tenants from eviction through what it says is much needed legal counsel. “It’s like a bus had just been removed off my body," said one client, "because I felt like I was being ran over by a bus."

A UMKC psychology graduate with a bird’s eye view of Kansas City’s public health says arguments aren’t the best way to convince someone to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Two weeks before the mandate was slated to expire, Jackson County legislators voted 5-4 Friday to end the mandate early.