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The omicron BA.5 subvariant of the coronavirus dominates the number of infections in the United States. What you need to know about the new common symptoms of COVID-19, vaccine side effects, cases and more.

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There are over 97 million people in the United States gave a positive result for the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic as of Friday, October 28, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In addition, more than 1 million people died in the United States. Worldwide, there have been more than 629 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 6.5 million people have died.

About 226 million people in the US completed the main series of vaccines (two doses) as of Oct. 28 — 68.2% of the population — and more than 111 million of them have received their first booster, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 19% of people in the country live in a place where Community levels of COVID-19 are considered medium and high, the agency reports as of October 28. Masks are recommended in high-level regions.

According to the CDC, about 81% of Americans live where the level of COVID-19 is considered low.

The omicron BA.5 subvariant The U.S. dominated cases in the week ending Oct. 22, accounting for 62.2% of COVID-19 cases, agency estimates show.

Here’s what happened from October 23 to 28.

Most common symptoms of COVID have changed, study says. That’s what they are

The study found that the most commonly reported symptoms of COVID-19 in recent weeks have changed since the coronavirus began spreading around the world.

According to the Zoe Health Study, an ongoing research project in the UK that tracks the virus through the COVID Symptoms Tracker program, core symptoms were largely similar regardless of vaccination status. Participants self-report their COVID-19 experiences using the app.

The latest study list, published on October 20, highlights how “previously recorded symptoms change with the development of virus variants,” the report said.

According to the study, four of the five main symptoms of COVID-19 were the same in participants who received two doses of the vaccine, one dose of the vaccine, and those who were not vaccinated. Such symptoms were headache, constant cough, sore throat and runny nose.

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Research shows that feeling sick after getting a COVID shot is a good sign. That’s what it means

There’s no need to worry if you’re feeling sick after a COVID-19 vaccine — it’s actually a good sign, according to a new study.

The study, published Oct. 21 in the journal JAMA Network Open, shows that post-vaccination symptoms — including chills, fatigue, fever, headache, muscle aches, nausea and vomiting — mean the body has a stronger immune response.

However, having few or no symptoms after being vaccinated against COVID-19 does not mean the vaccine did not work, according to the study.

Here’s what you need to know.

Of 928 older adults who received two doses of either Pfizer or Moderna’s mRNA vaccine, those who reported symptoms after vaccination had a greater antibody response compared with participants who reported only local symptoms, meaning pain or a rash at the site of the injection. ections, or no symptoms at all, the study found. The average age of the participants was 65 years.

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Heart attack deaths have risen sharply among young adults in the US in the second year of the COVID pandemic

According to new research from scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, as the number of COVID-19 infections increased during the pandemic, so did the number of deaths from heart attacks, with the largest increase among adults aged 25-44.

“The dramatic increase in heart attacks during the pandemic reversed what had been a decade of steady improvement in cardiac death,” said Dr. Yi Hui Yeo, first author of the study and a physician scientist at Cedars-Sinai. “We are still learning the many ways in which COVID-19 affects the body, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or race.”

Scientists around the country and the world continue to publish results showing that SARS-CoV-2 infections increase the risk of other serious diseases, such as stroke, nerve damage and some autoimmune diseases.

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A more contagious variant of COVID-19 has been found in Fresno County. Here’s what we know

Cases of COVID-19 continue to decline, but a new case has been confirmed in Fresno County as health officials prepare for a possible winter surge in the coronavirus.

The Fresno County Department of Public Health announced Friday that it has identified the first case of the BQ.1 variant in the county. The case was opened on Wednesday.

Officials have not said where in the county he was found or released any other details about the case.

BQ.1 is a descendant of the omicron variant BA.5, the strain responsible for most of the infections during last summer’s outbreak.

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Has the COVID pandemic helped the climate? Here’s an overview of California’s carbon emissions in 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has had one positive outcome for California: It has helped reduce the state’s carbon footprint, at least temporarily.

Carbon dioxide emissions fell 9% in 2020, the California Air Resources Board said Wednesday, the biggest drop in a year since California began measuring man-made carbon emissions.

But aviation board officials acknowledged that the results were skewed by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home orders in the early months of the pandemic, when offices, malls and freeways were largely empty and the economy ground to a halt.

Stephen Cliffe, the board’s chief executive, called the 2020 results “outliers” and said greenhouse gas emissions had certainly increased over the past two years as economic activity improved.

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Reporters Kathy Anderson, Bethany Clough and Dale Kasler also contributed to this report.

Julia Marnin is a McClatchy National Real-Time reporter covering the Southeast and Northeast while based in New York. She is a graduate of The College of New Jersey and joined McClatchy in 2021. She has previously written for Newsweek, Modern Luxury, Gannett and others.

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