N. Korea's low death count questioned amid COVID-19 outbreak SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Friday that nearly 10% of its 26 million people have fallen ill and 65 people have died amid its first COVID-19 outbreak, as outside experts question the validity of its reported fatalities and worry about a possible humanitarian crisis. AP NEWS

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COVID cases up 76% among kids in recent weeks It's not just among kids — infections are on the rise nationwide. YahooNews

COVID-19 cases among kids have climbed 76% in recent weeks, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Misinformation Docs See Their Political Stars Rise Familiar names appear on speakers' lists for popular conservative rallies Kristina Fiore medpagetoday

Two of the most visible right-wing, conservative political movements in the U.S. right now -- "Defeat the Mandates" and the "ReAwaken America" tour -- have extensive involvement from physicians who have been flagged for spreading medical misinformation.

Their names often appear on the featured speakers' list at both events: Robert Malone, MD; Peter McCullough, MD; Pierre Kory, MD; and Simone Gold, MD, JD, among others.

CDC urges Pfizer booster for children ages 5 to 11 Kids ages 5 to 11 should get a booster dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, advisers to the U.S. government said Thursday. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention quickly adopted the panel’s recommendation, opening a third COVID-19 shot to healthy elementary-age kids — just like what is already recommended for everybody 12 and older. AP NEWS

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As COVID cases rise, U.S. health officials mull widening additional booster eligibility Health officials are considering extending the eligibility for a second COVID-19 vaccine booster dose to people under 50 amid a steady rise in cases, with the United States seeing a threefold increase over the past month. Ahmed Aboulenein,Jeff Mason Reuters

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WHO: COVID deaths dropped by 21% last week but cases rising GENEVA (AP) — The number of coronavirus deaths globally dropped by about 21% in the past week while cases rose in most parts of the world, according to the World Health Organization. In its weekly report on the pandemic released Thursday, the U.N. AP NEWS

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Pro-Trump counties continue to suffer far higher COVID death tolls

Even with widely available vaccines and newly effective treatments, residents of counties that went heavily for Donald Trump in the last presidential election are more than twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than those that live in areas that went for President Biden. That's according to a newly-updated analysis from NPR, examining how partisanship and misinformation are shaping the pandemic.

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NPR examined COVID deaths per 100,000 people in roughly 3,000 counties across the U.S. from May 2021, the point at which most Americans could find a vaccine if they wanted one. Those living in counties that voted 60% or higher for Trump in November 2020 had 2.26 times the death rate of those that went by the same margin for Biden. Counties with a higher share of Trump votes had even higher mortality rates.

It's happening again: COVID-19 cases are back on the rise. There are 3 main reasons why. COVID-19 infections are up, driven by new variants, waning immunity from vaccines and past infections and fewer people masking, health officials say. YahooNews

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A rising tide of omicron subvariants is in part behind the rise, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden.