Philadelphia will reinstate its indoor mask mandate as cases rise Philadelphia will reinstate its indoor mask mandate as of Monday, April 18, as cases in the city quickly rise, the city's Public Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole announced Monday. Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN CNN

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Their decision comes after a slew of states and major cities dropped their masking requirements as cases began trending downward in January. On March 25, Hawaii became the last state to drop its mandate...

German lawmakers reject mandatory COVID shots for over 60s BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers on Thursday rejected a bill requiring all people 60 and over in the country to be vaccinated against coronavirus — a compromise solution the government had hoped would get a parliamentary majority. AP NEWS

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Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his health minister originally called for a vaccine mandate to apply to all adults in Germany, but some government lawmakers and most of the opposition had balked at the idea. ...

Senators announce $10 billion COVID-19 deal, leave out global aid

Senators announced on Monday they had reached a deal to provide $10 billion for the fight against COVID-19, but the agreement leaves out funding for the global virus response. 

The agreement could clear the path for Congress to finally pass some new funding for the virus response, which the White House has been warning for weeks is urgently needed to allow it to purchase more vaccines, treatments and tests. 

The announcement comes after days of negotiations between a group of GOP senators and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), with negotiators signaling late last week that they were close to finalizing specifics.