NEWSROOM

WORCESTER, Mass. - A new variant of COVID-19 discovered in South Africa is spreading and a local doctor says there are a number of mutations in this one and it could become the primary variant going forward.

New policies to combat an increasing number of hospital patients go into effect Monday.

Some surgeries could be put on hold as rising COVID-19 cases put a strain on local hospitals.

Massachusetts is requiring hospitals and health systems to reduce non-urgent scheduled surgical procedures. But the top reason isn't a surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations.

BOSTON — Health officials say it appears the omicron variant is more contagious, but it’s unclear if it will result in more severe illness.

And it’s not yet clear how the current vaccines hold up against it.

Coronavirus booster shots are now authorized for everyone 18 years and older and can be given six months after mRNA vaccines and two months after a Johnson & Johnson shot.

Massachusetts hospitals, which are once again facing critical staffing and bed shortages, will soon be limiting non-essential pre-scheduled procedures to preserve resources and capacity.

The Baker administration on Tuesday ordered Massachusetts hospitals, already teeming with patients who delayed care during the early days of the pandemic, to reduce nonurgent surgeries to help manage a potential winter rush of people sick with respiratory illnesses, including the flu an

Amid an uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations headed into the holidays, Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration is ordering Massachusetts hospitals with limited bed capacity to cut back on non-urgent, scheduled procedures.

WORCESTER — In the bay outside the crowded emergency department of UMass Memorial Medical Center, the ambulances keep coming.

Just inside the doors, a pair of paramedics wait with their patient, an elderly woman on a stretcher.

A perfect storm is brewing in the world of medicine, as the wave of an aging population collides with a shortfall of future surgeons.

Yet, the vascular surgery specialty in Central Massachusetts is breaking this troubling trend with technological innovation.

Countries in the Northern Hemisphere are facing an unpredictable winter as COVID-19 continues to spread during the flu season, experts have warned.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a multitude of problems long lingering in the healthcare system: staffing shortages, racial inequities, increasing mental health needs, lack of access, lack of funding, rising costs, mistrust in the medical establishment.