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At-home COVID-19 tests: A Mayo Clinic expert answers questions on expiration dates and the new variants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:19 GMT

Deb Balzer | (TNS) Mayo Clinic News NetworkAt-home COVID-19 tests allow you to collect your sample and detect active COVID-19 infections.But what if you have at-home COVID-19 tests nearing expiration or expired on your shelf?Matthew Binnicker, Ph.D., director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, says companies set the original test dates arbitrarily due to these diagnostic at-home tests being developed rapidly. So, check your boxes before you toss them.“Now that we are 3 1/2 years into the pandemic, those manufacturers have had the opportunity to go back and assess the test performance over prolonged periods of time. And they’ve updated the expiration dates in many cases,” says Dr. Binnicker.His first recommendation if you have tests at home is to search the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website for information on updated expiration dates.“If you take a test that is beyond the expiration date, and the test is positive, that’s likely ...

Mystery Patriots revealed: Two cornerbacks added to provide depth

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:19 GMT

The Patriots signed two cornerbacks to their practice squad Thursday, per sources.Cornerbacks Breon Borders and Azizi Hearn signed to the Patriots practice squad Thursday after working out for the team in the morning, per sources.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots offensive line takes a hit at Thursday practice before Jets game New England Patriots | Patriots have ideas on how to fix ineffective running game New England Patriots | Patriots: 6 reasons to still be optimistic about 2023 season New England Patriots | Callahan: Bill Belichick hamstrung Bill O’Brien, but O’Brien must deliver anyway at the Jets New England Patriots | Patriots captain: Defense off to ‘hell of a start’ preparing for Jets Borders and Hearn were the unidentified players at practice wearing Nos. 35 and 42 on Thursday afternoon.Borders is a veteran cornerback out of Duke who has spent time with the Raid...

Patriots offensive line takes a hit at Thursday practice before Jets game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:19 GMT

Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones missed the start of his second straight practice Thursday with a shoulder injury, while offensive lineman Sidy Sow was newly absent.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots have ideas on how to fix ineffective running game New England Patriots | Patriots: 6 reasons to still be optimistic about 2023 season New England Patriots | Callahan: Bill Belichick hamstrung Bill O’Brien, but O’Brien must deliver anyway at the Jets New England Patriots | Patriots captain: Defense off to ‘hell of a start’ preparing for Jets New England Patriots | Patriots see increased participation from three players in practice Sow, who sat out last week with a concussion, returned to the field Wednesday in a limited capacity. It’s unknown whether his absence Thursday is tied to the same concussion. The fourth-round rookie started the Pats’ season opener at right ...

Gov. Healey expands legal services for migrants living in emergency shelters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:19 GMT

The Healey administration plans to expand legal services for migrants living in emergency shelters in Massachusetts to help them access work authorizations and use state funds to pay for their online application filing fees.Gov. Maura Healey has repeatedly said the lack of efficient access to work authorizations is one the main drivers of an overburdened shelter system. Speaking to reporters earlier this week, a frustrated Healey again called on the Biden administration to speed up work permits.In a statement Thursday, Healey said the Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services plan to offer legal aid services for new arrivals who are legally allowed to be present in the United States.The two offices will partner with refugee resettlement agencies to provide case management and other services, “with the goal to enable shelter residents to begin working sooner and reduce the strain placed on the emergency assistance system,” ...

Here’s how to decorate for Halloween, according to scare professionals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:19 GMT

From their nightmare factory in Greeley, Colorado, husband-and-wife team Ed Edmunds and Marsha Taub-Edmunds have been making elaborate monsters and masks for more than four decades.Their company, Distortions Unlimited, then dispatches the creepy cast of artfully crafted characters — like animatronic circus clowns, life-sized werewolves, and a toothy 11-foot-tall “Sleeping Giant” — to commercial haunted houses, theme parks and corn mazes.But during the COVID-19 pandemic, an interesting trend emerged: Homeowners began taking an interest in the Hollywood-quality monsters and props and incorporating them into their own front-yard haunts. Direct-to-consumer sales in the past few years have shot up by roughly 200%, Taub-Edmunds estimates. Each one costs anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.“People weren’t able to go to haunted houses during COVID, and they weren’t handing out candy, so they really got into the spirit of decorating,” she said.Retail stores got ...

An end in sight? Striking writers and Hollywood studios resume negotiations for a second day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:19 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood studios and striking screenwriters resumed talks Thursday that could potentially put an end to the nearly five-month dispute that has brought many film and television productions to a halt.In a rare joint statement issued Wednesday night, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the industry’s studios, streaming services and production companies in union negotiations, and the Writers Guild of America, said that they’d met for bargaining Wednesday and would continue Thursday. Present at the meeting were a group of top entertainment CEOs including Disney’s Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, Universal’s Donna Langley and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos. The four are likely to be present at the talks Thursday as well. On Wednesday, CNBC reporter David Faber wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the writers and AMPTP were “near” an agreement and “hope to fi...

Clarification: US-Philanthropy-Gates-Foundation story

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:19 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — In a story published September 20, 2023, The Associated Press reported on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s $200 million pledge to groups supporting women’s health. The story should have made clear that Unitaid does not manufacture health products itself but rather funds health projects, including manufacturing health products.Thalia Beaty, The Associated Press

Mexico president says he’ll skip APEC summit in November in San Francisco

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:19 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president said on Thursday that he will skip the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November in San Francisco because his country “has no relations” with Peru. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has claimed previously that Peru’s current government was installed by a coup and that he still considers ousted president Pedro Castillo to be the country’s legitimate leader. Both countries have recalled their ambassadors following those comments. It would not be the first time that López Obrador has skipped international meetings in the United States because of who else was or wasn’t invited. Last year, he skipped the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles because Nicaragua and Venezuela were not invited.Leaders from around the Pacific rim are scheduled to attend the 21-member APEC forum scheduled for Nov. 11-17.López Obrador’s comments were the most forceful indication yet that he doesn’t recognize current Peruvian President Dina B...

9 deputies charged in death of man beaten in Memphis jail, including 2 for second-degree murder

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:19 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Two Memphis jail deputies have been charged with second-degree murder in the death of a Black man who was having a psychotic episode and died in custody last fall after jailers punched, kicked and kneeled on his back during a confrontation, according to court documents released Thursday. The indictments show that Stevon Jones and Courtney Parham have also been charged with aggravated assault while acting in concert with others in the death of 33-year-old Gershun Freeman. Jones faces an additional count of assault. Meanwhile, seven other deputies have been charged with aggravated assault resulting in the death of another. Those officers include: Jeffrey Gibson, Anthony Howell, Damian Cooper, Ebonee Davis, Lareko Donwel Elliot and Chelsey Duckett. One officer’s name was redacted.The grand jury made the indictments Tuesday and warrants were issued Wednesday. All of the deputies have been placed on administrative leave. Online records do not show if the eight...

Pathways Alliance watching Trans Mountain’s latest hurdles with dismay

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:19 GMT

CALGARY — The group behind a proposed carbon capture and storage network for Alberta’s oilsands is watching the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion’s latest regulatory hurdles with dismay.The Pathways Alliance, a consortium of Canada’s biggest oilsands companies, wants to get its proposed $16.5-billion carbon pipeline and underground storage hub up and running in northern Alberta by 2030.The project is key to the oilsands industry’s commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from production by 2050. But Pathways president Kendall Dilling says the latest challenges affecting the Trans Mountain pipeline project show how hard it is to get major infrastructure projects across the finish line in this country.The Crown corporation that owns Trans Mountain has run into fresh construction issues in British Columbia, and a B.C. First Nation is opposing the company’s efforts to modify the pipeline’s route as a result.The Trans Mountain project, w...