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Coronavirus

Washington County sees fewer new COVID cases

From staff reports The average rate of new COVID-19 cases continues to drop in Ohio, though a couple of area counties with smaller populations have moved back up in the statistical rankings. The statewide average of new cases per 100,000 residents for Sept. 30 to Oct. 13 was 507.4, down from 560.5 for the prior two-week period of Sept. 23 to Oct. 6, according to the Ohio Department of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard. Washington County, which ranked 12th out of Ohio’s 88 counties in the new-cases-per-100,000 metric four weeks ago, had dropped all the way to 76th, according to the ...

Fort Frye gets feedback on mask mandate

BEVERLY — On Monday, a parent in the Fort Frye Local School District made a formal request that their child not be required to wear a mask on the basis of religion. Parents, teachers and even principals came to the board of education meeting to express their opinions about the recent ...

Frontier Local Schools BOE discusses mask policy

NEW MATAMORAS — Teachers, parents and even students attended Thursday’s meeting of the Frontier Local Schools Board of Education to discuss the district’s mask policy. The Frontier board quickly started the meeting and moved to enter an executive session. While the board was in ...

Memorial nurse practitioner describes job in pandemic

A Memorial Health System nurse practitioner took to social media to share her experience on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19 and encourage people to get vaccinated against the virus. “From a health care perspective, it’s really, really emotionally wrecking. It’s really hard to see so many patients dying,” Megan Barnette said as she fought back tears in a Facebook Live post she made Wednesday and her employer shared Thursday. “And we’re to that point where, nearly every shift, a COVID-vented patient is coding now.” Marietta Memorial Hospital this week ...

Frontier BOE updates mask policy at emergency meeting

NEW MATAMORAS — Holding an emergency meeting due to the rising number of students and staff having to quarantine due to COVID, the Frontier Local School District Board of Education updated its mask policy for schools. The board met Thursday in the Frontier High/Middle School Media ...

US regulators give full approval to Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MATTHEW PERRONE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. gave full approval to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, a milestone that may help lift public confidence in the shots as the nation battles the most contagious coronavirus mutant yet. The vaccine made by ...