A good chunk of the $117 billion budget passed by Florida lawmakers Friday is being set aside for projects in Northeast Florida.

COVID-19 hospitalization numbers have plunged to their lowest levels since the early days of the pandemic, offering a much needed break to health care workers and patients alike following the omicron surge.

Spain’s medical community has scored a victory after a court ordered that a regional government compensate doctors with up to 49,000 euros ($56,000) for having to work without personal protection suits during the devastating early months of the pandemic.

The staff is tired, the omicron variant is bearing down and the intensive care unit beds are filling fast at a hospital in the French city of Marseille.

As hospitals across Europe brace themselves for a surge in coronavirus cases because of the new omicron variant, Westerstede Clinical Center is cautiously hopeful it can weather the storm.

The Slovak government has approved a two-week national lockdown amid a record surge of coronavirus infections.

Germany’s health minister says the rapid rise in coronavirus cases means it’s likely everyone in the country who isn’t vaccinated will have caught COVID-19 by the end of the winter, and some of those will die.

Ukraine has hit another record for daily coronavirus deaths amid a spike in infections fueled by public reluctance to receive vaccines.

Russia’s COVID-19 cases have hit another one-day record as the country struggles to contain a wave of infections that has persisted for more than a month.

Russia has set another record for daily coronavirus deaths as it struggles through a long surge of infections that has prompted restrictions throughout the country.

Daily coronavirus cases and deaths in Russia remain at their highest numbers of the pandemic.

Coronavirus deaths in Russia hit another daily record several days after a nationwide order for many Russians to stay off work took effect.

Ukraine's president is pleading with citizens to get vaccinated as daily infections have soared to another all-time high.

Russia is reporting a record high number of coronavirus infections and COVID-19 deaths as the country approaches a week of nonworking days aimed at stemming the sharp surge in cases.

Ukraine’s coronavirus infections and deaths have reached all-time highs for a second straight day, a growing challenge for the country where the share of vaccinated is one of Europe’s lowest.

In Russia's fifth-largest city, Nizhny Novgorod, seriously ill coronavirus patients at an infectious disease hospital lie in crowded wards with little space between beds.

The World Health Organization says there has been a 7% rise in new coronavirus cases across Europe last week.

Last spring, 17-year-old Sandy Rose tested positive for COVID-19. She had a headache, felt fatigued and expected that to be the extent of it.

A Cleveland Clinic study found that patients who regularly use steroid nasal sprays are less likely to develop a severe case of COVID-19

The vaccination situation in Europe is a story of two regions.

As of Friday morning, 12 children were in Wolfson Children's Hospital with COVID-19, and four were in the ICU.

Oregon was once the poster child for limiting the spread of the coronavirus, after its Democratic governor imposed some of the nation’s strictest safety measures, including mask mandates, limits on gatherings and an order closing restaurants.

As coronavirus infections rise among young Americans, so too have deaths in a population once thought to be largely shielded from the worst of the pandemic.

The latest wave of COVID-19 cases has led to a surge in hospitalizations, compounding what has already been a taxing year for health care workers.

State lawmakers are taking actions to limit the emergency powers of governors — not just during the coronavirus pandemic, but for any future emergencies.

FILE- In this March 19, 2021, file photo, a nurse tends to a patient affected by COVID-19 virus in the ICU unit at the Ambroise Pare clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris. The sobering warnings were delivered Sunday in newspaper opinions signed by dozens of Paris-region doctors. Since January, Macron’s government has instead imposed a nationwide overnight curfew and followed that with a grab-bag of other restrictions. But with infections soaring and hospitals increasingly running short of intensive-care beds, doctors have been stepping up the pressure for a full French lockdown. AdThe doctors predicted that softer new restrictions imposed this month on Paris and some other regions won't quickly bring the resurgent epidemic under control.

The body of a COVID-19 victim lies in a body bag at the ICU of the Sao Jose municipal hospital in Duque de Caxias, Brazil, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)SAO PAULO – Brazil topped 300,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, becoming the second country to do so amid a spike in infections that has seen the South American country report record death tolls in recent days. The United States reached the grim milestone on Dec. 14, but has a larger population than Brazil. On Wednesday, Brazil's health ministry reported 2,009 daily COVID-19 deaths, bringing its pandemic total to 300,685. On Tuesday, the country saw a single-day record of 3,251 deaths.

A police officer patrols in the Chatelet area amidst the new coronavirus pandemic, in Paris, Saturday, March 13, 2021. Some of the nation’s governors routinely block access to public records, keeping the public in the dark about key decisions involving the coronavirus pandemic. Polling shows divides by race and politics, with Black Americans and supporters of former President Donald Trump expressing more skepticism about the vaccines. Richard Hall of the Berkshire COVID-19 Vaccine Collaborative spoke to the The Berkshire Eagle. Ad___WASHINGTON - Commercial air travel appears to be on the upswing despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Relatives attend a burial service of a person who died from complications related to COVID-19 at the Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Thursday, March 11, 2021. Ad“We have reached the limit across Brazil; rare are the exceptions,” Dias, who leads the governors’ forum, said. “In the whole country, aggressive use of the public health measures, social measures, will be very, very crucial,” he said. At the Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, burials are being done one after another, with mourners and cars lined up awaiting their turn. Associated Press videojournalist Tatiana Pollastri contributed from Sao Paulo.

In the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, virus cases are suddenly spiking to their highest levels since the pandemic began, and demand for ICU beds is more than double supply. (AP Photo/ Sony Ibrahim Chamsidine)MAMOUDZOU – Mayotte’s main tourist office stands nearly empty, a lonely tropical outpost overlooking a people-less port. The Mayotte islands are the poorest corner of the European Union, tucked between Madagascar and the mainland coast of Mozambique in southern Africa - and were the last spot in France to receive any coronavirus vaccines. Local authorities feel forgotten and say their difficulties in fighting the virus reflect long-standing inequalities between France’s majority-white mainland and its far-flung multiracial former colonies. The French army is sending in medical workers and a few ICU beds, and President Emmanuel Macron’s government pledged Wednesday to step up vaccine deliveries.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A dozen health care workers from Baptist Health left for Super Bowl LV on Saturday. The group of health care heroes gathered at TIAA Bank Field for pictures inside the stadium before they boarded the bus for Tampa. Jennifer Bloom, an assistant nurse manager of the ICU, is one of the 12 health care workers selected to go on the trip. RELATED: Sister, brother doctors in Jacksonville, Tampa both picked for Super Bowl ticketsA dozen health care workers from Baptist Health are among 7,500 doctors and nurses nationwide invited to Super Bowl LV. “I’ve never been to a Super Bowl so I’m excited about that and taking it all in,” Gorak said.

This is daily life in La Timone's ICU ward in Marseille, as France grapples with whether to impose a third lockdown and struggles to ramp up the pace of vaccinations. Ad“It’s been tense since the beginning of the second wave, around October or November,” Dr. Julien Carvelli, head of the ICU ward, told The Associated Press. “We’re afraid that, in the coming weeks, we won’t be able to take in and treat all ICU patients,” including those with illnesses other than COVID. But President Emmanuel Macron’s government says it won’t shut down the country again unless its hospitals are again at risk of overflowing with virus patients. His ward was lucky to have a free bed when the hospital’s pediatric department asked for a place for the 16-year-old virus patient.

What should I know about COVID-19 vaccines if Im pregnant? AP Illustration/Peter HamlinStudies show pregnant women with severe COVID-19 are at higher risk for hospitalization, ICU admission and ventilation. “Based on peer-reviewed, vigorous scientific evidence that we have in non-pregnant patients, we feel it’s safe for pregnant patients who desire the vaccine to get it,” said Cleveland Clinic OB/GYN Tosin Goje, MD. “Trials in pregnant patients are ongoing right now, so I’m confident that by the time the vaccine is offered to the general pregnant population, we should have some data that will reassure the pregnant patient,” said Dr. Goje. “But, there are no safety signals or concerns right now.”Whether vaccine is accepted, or not, Dr. Goje encourages women to continue to wear a mask, socially distance and wash their hands.

A surge that started in mid-October made California the nation’s COVID epicenter before numbers improved in the new year. Four regions accounting for virtually all the state's nearly 40 million residents were put under the stay-at-home order in December and three remained there until Monday. The first two confirmed cases of the virus were reported in California a year ago Tuesday. While acknowledging that deaths and hospitalizations remain tragically high, Ghaly pointed to the recent virus data as evidence of a steady and pronounced downward trend. Ghaly said health officials are aware of the potential for a resurgence and could ratchet up restrictions if conditions worsen.

Last week, state health officials told The Associated Press they were keeping all the data secret because it is complicated and might mislead the public. Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist and infectious-diseases control expert at University of California, San Francisco, was among the critics. Gavin Newsom announced a new stay-at-home order that was based on ICU capacity in each of five regions. At a news conference with Newsom, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly promised to reveal some of the information behind the projections. But it’s currently stuck at 9.9% — virtually the same level it was two weeks ago when state officials abruptly lifted the stay-at-home order there.

California health authorities reported Thursday a record two-day total of 1,042 coronavirus deaths as many hospitals strain under unprecedented caseloads. California health authorities reported Thursday 583 new deaths and a record two-day total of 1,042. Carmela Coyle, the association’s president and chief executive, said the group has been negotiating with state officials but they aren’t acting fast enough. “It’s a slap in the face to safe patient care to actually call charting and documentation ‘red tape,’” she said. State health officials did not respond to questions on how they expect the heath orders to be applied or how many patients or hospitals might be affected.

One of them is Baptist Medical Center Nassau, which had no available ICU space as of Monday evening, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration. By Tuesday afternoon, one ICU bed had become available there, but across Northeast Florida, ICU availability was low. Now, with cases soaring, some medical facilities are preparing to stretch their ICU resources to the limit. And so when it does occur, we’ll be ready.”If a hospital’s ICU space is filled up, Neilsen said, staff will look around for other hospitals in the area that might have available space. Also, larger hospitals can temporarily convert some existing space into an ICU if more is needed.

Increasingly desperate California hospitals are being "crushed" by soaring coronavirus infections, with one Los Angeles emergency doctor predicting that rationing of care is imminent. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)LOS ANGELES – Medical staffing is stretched increasingly thin as California hospitals scramble to find beds for patients amid an explosion of coronavirus cases that threatens to overwhelm the state's emergency care system. In hard-hit Los Angeles County, Nerissa Black, a nurse at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, estimated she's been averaging less than 10 minutes of care per patient every hour. California was experiencing “some of the darkest days of our COVID-19 surge,” Gov. Supermarkets have been hit hard by the virus surge, further straining an essential service that remains open during the latest stay-at-home order.

Five of those deaths occurred in Northeast Florida: three in Columbia County and two in Alachua County. (Note that due to reporting delayed, deaths are added to the Florida Department of Health’s COVID-19 report days or weeks after they occur.) The positivity rate in both Florida and Duval County remained above 8% on Friday, while the rate in some Northeast Florida counties was well above 10%. Florida and Duval County daily deaths reported since June 1There were 5,086 people hospitalized with the disease in the state as of late Saturday afternoon. According to the Agency for Health Care Administration, Columbia County was out of ICU beds, Clay County had only 10% of its ICU beds available, 11% in Alachua County and Nassau County had only 12.5% open.

As one of the man's carers, Brissaud had been more physically intimate with him than many people are with their friends. This is what it is to encounter death, over and over, in the COVID-poisoned days of the 2020 pandemic. It was also where the ICU patient in room No. The man's age and the fact that his death wasn't unexpected made it easier for his carers, Busch determined. She says the virus death of a young lung-transplant recipient made one ICU paramedic “very angry.” Another came to her “in tears, saying, ‘They are all dying.

Some counties have opted to impose them even before the mandate kicks in, including five San Francisco Bay Area counties where the measures also take effect starting Sunday. San Francisco resident Michael Duranceau rushed to a market to load up on supplies. “I can’t emphasize this enough – everyone must take personal steps to protect themselves and protect others.”The other three regions — Greater Sacramento, Northern California and San Francisco Bay Area — were all around 21% capacity. The changes begin to take effect Sunday night in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Marin, Alameda and Contra Costa counties, as well as the city of Berkeley. ___Associated Press writers Olga R. Rodriguez and Juliet Williams in San Francisco, Robert Jablon and Brian Melley in Los Angeles and Adam Beam in Sacramento contributed.

Some counties have opted to impose them even before the mandate kicks in, including five San Francisco Bay Area counties where the measures also take effect starting Sunday. San Francisco resident Michael Duranceau rushed to a market to load up on supplies. The 11-county Southern California region, which includes the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, had only 12.5% of its ICU beds available, the California Department of Public Health reported Saturday. The figure was 8.6% for the San Joaquin Valley region, composed of a dozen counties in the agricultural Central Valley and rural areas of the Sierra Nevada. ___Associated Press writers Olga R. Rodriguez and Juliet Williams in San Francisco, Robert Jablon and Brian Melley in Los Angeles and Adam Beam in Sacramento contributed.

The health officers in six San Francisco Bay Area regions have issued a new stay-at-home order as the number of virus cases surge and hospitals fill. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)SAN FRANCISCO – The health officers in five San Francisco Bay Area counties issued a new stay-at-home order Friday requiring some businesses to close and banning all gatherings, as the number of virus cases surge and hospitals fill. The Bay Area counties are so closely connected that it was much easier to implement a regional order, officials said. The Golden Gate Restaurant Association in San Francisco said most restaurants “cannot make it financially on takeout alone." ___Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco and Brian Melley in Los Angeles contributed.

The facade of the hospital is blackened by smoke from the ICU unit following a fire in Piatra Neamt, northern Romania, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. (ZIarPiatraNeamt.ro via AP)BUCHAREST – A fire at a hospital treating COVID-19 patients in northeastern Romania killed 10 people Saturday and injured 10 others, seven of them critically, officials said. The blaze spread through the intensive care ward designated for COVID-19 patients at the public hospital in the city of Piatra Neamt, local Emergency Situations Inspectorate spokesperson Irina Popa said. were hospital patients, . News outlets reported that Piatra Neamt Regional Emergency Hospital has long been poorly managed, with eight government-appointed managers overseeing the facility in the last year.

A medical team member is disinfected before leaving the COVID-19 ward at the Severo Ochoa hospital in Leganes, outskirts of Madrid, Spain, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. Now, a well-oiled machinery saves some lives and loses others to coronavirus, but without the doomsday atmosphere of March and April. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)GENEVA – The World Health Organization has announced a new daily record high in coronavirus cases confirmed worldwide, with more than 350,000 infections reported to the U.N. health agency on Friday. The new daily high of 350,766 cases surpasses a record set earlier this week by nearly 12,000. As the virus continues to surge across Europe and elsewhere, Ryan acknowledged that restrictive measures might be warranted at some point.

Healthcare workers attending to COVID-19 patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) at Na Bulovce hospital in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. A record surge of new coronavirus infections in the Czech Republic in September has been followed by a record surge of those hospitalized with COVID-19. The Czech Republic currently has more people testing positive daily than any other country in Central and Eastern Europe, even neighboring Germany whose population is eight times bigger. The new confirmed day-to-day increase reached a new record high of 5,335 on Wednesday, almost 900 more than Tuesday's previous record. Prime Minister Igor Matovic called the development “a serious moment for Slovakia.” Matovic said he will consider further tightening restrictions for travelers from the Czech Republic.

A medical crew works at a patient affected with COVID-19 in a Marseille hospital, southern France, Thursday, Sept.10, 2020. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)MARSEILLE – All five intensive care beds dedicated to COVID patients are in use at the Laveran Military Training Hospital in Marseille, and its doctors are bracing for more. The 70 ICU beds dedicated to virus patients in France’s second-biggest city and the surrounding Bouches-du-Rhone region were all occupied by Tuesday. The number of ICU virus patients in the region has doubled in the past 10 days and now surpasses 100. Among the new virus patients, Pierre-Yves said, “Some are older but not all.

While concentrations of the virus were highest in ICU wards, general wards (even those not treating coronavirus patients) showed positive testing results too. Researches said compared to floor samples of other viruses, the rate of positivity for COVID-19 was relatively high. Half of the samples from the soles of the ICU medical staff shoes tested positive. As a result, researchers concluded the soles of medical staff shoes might function as carriers. For the latest studies and developments in the coronavirus pandemic, sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter.

A healthcare worker attends to a COVID-19 patient in an intensive care unit (ICU) at the General University Hospital in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, April 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)PRAGUE – Unlike their colleagues in Italy and Spain, Czech hospital doctors have not yet needed to make harrowing decisions on which COVID-19 patients get the best care. Only half the ten intensive care ward beds were occupied Tuesday at Prague's General University Hospital, where the Czech Republic treats people with the most serious coronavirus complications. A total 80 have died since the pandemic began and 86 patients were in intensive care Tuesday. On Monday, the Czech Republic and Austria became the first European countries to announce relaxing some of their coronavirus restrictions.

The family of April Robinson says she is fighting for her life in ICU. Copyright 2019 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.

A 14-year-old boy is in ICU after he fell off a golf cart. Police say fireworks could be to blame. Copyright 2019 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.