In an article published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, Dr. Jeremy Samuel Faust of Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dr. Carlos del Rio of Emory University School of Medicine explained why it is misleading to compare the COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. so far with the seasonal death toll of flu. Instead, they argue, weekly figures are a better point of comparison. “Yet public officials continue to draw comparisons between seasonal influenza and SARS-CoV-2 [coronavirus] mortality, often in an attempt to minimize the effects of the unfolding pandemic,” they wrote....

Dozens of nations are dealing with the rapid spread of the variant, with infections like “nothing we’ve seen before” in the U.K., according to the country’s Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who said yesterday that it could be spreading to up to 200,000 people each day and become the dominant strain in just weeks. Some governments are waiting for more evidence to emerge about the severity of Omicron before acting but others - mainly in Europe - have chosen strict vaccine-based restrictions on socializing and employment as booster shots get rolled out at an unprecedented speed....

The patients at Ramon y Cajal University Hospital in the Spanish capital of Madrid were diagnosed with the coronavirus which causes COVID-19, and had dermatology appointments between March 30 to April 8, 2020. The findings were published as a research letter in the journal JAMA Dermatology. The researchers found six (29 percent) of the patients had some form of enanthem in their mouths. These patients were aged between 40 to 69-years-old, and four (66 percent) were women....

Breakthrough cases, in which a fully-vaccinated person still ends up catching COVID, have made headlines recently with some restaurants having to close due to infections among vaccinated staff. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC on Sunday it is “very clear” the U.S. needs to step up COVID testing when asked if the country was doing enough to track breakthrough cases....

Tributes have poured in for Kelly Peterson, 41, who was a staff member at Lake Shipp Elementary School in Winter Haven. Peterson had been advised against getting a COVID vaccine by medics as she was undergoing treatment for leukemia, her sister told Fox32. She said: “Because her leukemia was so bad at this point, their concern was by getting the vaccine that potentially could put too much stress on her body....

Education technology, also known as edtech, delivers lessons less expensively than in-person instruction, amounting to a roughly 80 percent decline in per-student cost, according to a study published in Science Advances, a peer-reviewed journal. Adult students, military personnel, foreign students stranded by the pandemic have also found new learning opportunities. The research firm Insight Partners projects that the edtech industry will grow to $234 billion by 2027, a 15.3 percent increase compared with 2020....

The patient died from complications relating to multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) while being treated at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. They suffered from a “complex, preexisting cardiac condition,” a hospital spokesperson said. The case is believed to mark the first COVID-related death of a child in the county, the Los Angeles Times reported. The hospital public relations team said no further details could be made public at this time due to rules surrounding patient privacy....

The 53 signatories of the statement include the American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, American Academy of Nursing (ANA), American Psychiatric Association and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The statement, which was shown first to The Washington Post, reads: “Due to the recent COVID-19 surge and the availability of safe and effective vaccines, our health care organizations and societies advocate that all health care and long-term care employers require their workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine....

On Monday, U.S.-based Johnson & Johnson announced a pause on all of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate clinical trials due to an “unexplained illness” in one of its study participants. French pharmaceutical company Sanofi is hoping to have its vaccine candidate rolled out by mid-next year, according to Olivier Bogillot, the president of Sanofi France. “We are in a very concrete environment at the regulatory level. We ourselves have signed a charter with various laboratories so as not to compromise on the safety of the vaccine....

That was when the Cowboys signed Brandon Weeden, knowing even then — with Kyle Orton’s return up in the air — that the Browns’ recent first-round flop might be their safety net for a quarterback coming off back surgery for the second straight offseason. The job fell to Weeden Sunday at home against the Cardinals, and the result was no surprise: The only touchdown he generated was in the final minutes after the game was decided, and Dez Bryant didn’t have a catch until then, either....

During the fourth quarter of Dallas’ 27-20 win against the Washington Football Team, Dak Prescott was shoved out of bounds by defensive end William Bradley-King. Collins felt the shove was a cheap shot on his quarterback, and he was ready to defend him. Collins rushed over and began to shove Bradley-King back, throwing in a few swings at the Washington lineman. For the altercation, the Cowboys were handed a 15-yard penalty, and Collins was ejected from the game....

Brice Butler confirmed Tuesday on Twitter that he had been traded from the Raiders to the Cowboys ahead of their NFC East matchup against the Eagles in Week 2. MORE: Five reasons Dallas can survive without Dez | Week 2 fantasy WR rankings The 6-3, 215-pound Butler, a seventh-round pick in 2013 out of San Diego State, had 30 catches for 383 yards and two touchdowns in two seasons with the Raiders....

The Cowboys are lacking a true replacement for departed No. 1 wideout Dez Bryant. None of their newcomers — Allen Hurns, Deonte Thompson or rookie Michael Gallup — is the downfield threat that is Gordon. The Patriots, with Julian Edelman serving a four-game suspension to open the season, have shuffled through options behind Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett and Cordarrelle Patterson. Whether Cleveland trades or releases Gordon, Dallas or New England is a good bet vs....

Muhammad Ali was a hero of humanity and style mostly after the fact. On April 16, 1947, Arthur Daley of the New York Times dubbed Jackie Robinson’s debut a “quite uneventful” affair. LeBron James was The One who couldn’t get it done. We’ve since revised. MORE: Top 10 Cowboys of all time | Each team’s best undrafted free agent In pure sports terms, Tony Romo finds himself and his legacy trapped by a tale as old as barber shop debates and sports journalism: In our desire to debate, we’ve overlooked the great....

Dallas per usual will have six tricky games against Philadelphia, Washington and New York in the East. But it also must face every team from the NFC West and AFC North once this season as part of the interdivisional rotation. The Cowboys, after being stuck mostly around .500 with a few spikes, finally made a coaching change from Jason Garrett to Mike McCarthy. Garrett finished 85-67 in his 10 years with the Cowboys, making the playoffs three times in his tenure....

Wellstone’s cage-rattling debut is the second act in a remarkable political ascendance. Early on, pollsters gave the Carleton College political-science professor no chance to topple two-term Republican Rudy Boschwitz, smugly seated atop a $7 million war chest. But Wellstone was able to parlay smoldering anti-incumbent voter sentiment and two decades of liberal activism in the labor, farm and nuclear-freeze movements into a 20,000-strong grass-roots organization. He barnstormed the state in his ramshackle bus and used his shoestring budget to air hip, irreverent ads painting the well-heeled Boschwitz and the GOP as disengaged from Minnesotans’ concerns....

Against England, once again India’s strategy raised eyebrows. Chasing a sizeable total of 338 runs, India scored just 28 runs in the first Powerplay, the slowest start of any team so far in the tournament. “We should have been more clinical with the bat I suppose because the wicket was flat,” Kohli told Sky Sports. “Even we could have accelerated and got closer to the score, but their bowlers bowled well and executed their plans....

Then, all of sudden, the number one-ranked side in the world found a second life and responded in style, defeating India and New Zealand to survive the group stage and book its place in a first World Cup semifinal for 27 years. Back in 1992, England went all the way to the final. To repeat the feat this year, it will have to get past Australia on Thursday, with a new chapter set to be added to the tale cricket’s oldest rivalry....

One Betty Nichols is too many, but the department’s problem seems to have been shockingly widespread. An internal audit report, released last week, outlines numerous examples of flawed procedures and lost evidence. A preliminary search of the department’s database turned up 242 unsolved homicide cases with possible damaged or lost evidence since 1976. The report also describes sickening conditions at the city’s evidence warehouse, where temperatures soared above 100 degrees, a leaky roof damaged storage shelving and mice “and other vermin” destroyed and contaminated evidence packaging....

On Wednesday, McTague pleaded guilty to stealing 164 pieces of government property valued into the tens of thousands. “But they are of incalculable value to historians,” says U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan. The pilfered documents include the May 4, 1865, telegram from the secretary of War’s office ordering gun salutes in honor of President Lincoln, whose funeral was that day, and a letter from the war’s most notable cavalryman, J.E.B. Stuart....