The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Wednesday “now is not the time” to lift COVID-19 restrictions, one day after the governor of Texas announced the southern U.S. state was “100 percent open.”  At a virtual news briefing for the White House COVID-19 response, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the next month or two will be pivotal in deciding the trajectory of the pandemic.    FILE – In this image from video, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky speaks during a briefing on the Biden administration’s …

The World Health Organization says one in 10 people worldwide is expected to suffer from hearing loss by 2050. But in the United States, health officials say around 20 percent of America’s adult population is already experiencing some level of hearing loss and the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the problem to a greater extent. As the country marks FILE – Director of Empowering Deaf Society Mangai Sutharsan, puts on a partially transparent mask following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Ilford, London, Britain, July 29, 2020.Experts are also worried about the …

To mark World Hearing Day, the World Health Organization is calling for action to stem the epidemic of hearing loss, which currently affects 1.5 billion people globally.  A roadmap for action is contained in WHO’s first World Report on Hearing.     WHO officials warn nearly 2.5 billion people will be living with some degree of hearing loss by 2050 if nothing is done to prevent or mitigate this condition.  Nearly a third, they say will require hearing rehabilitation.   The personal and economic cost of this condition is huge.  Many people who are deaf …

Merck will help its pharmaceutical competitor Johnson & Johnson make the single-shot coronavirus vaccine. That was announced on Tuesday by President Joe Biden.VOA’s White House bureau chief Steve Herman was in the room when the president also said he wants every American educator to receive at least one vaccine dose by the end of this month, as part of the effort to get the country back to normal as quickly as possible.President Biden, speaking in the White House State Dining Room, says the cooperation among competitors to produce more doses …

It’s the sort of chance that comes along just once in a blue Moon: a Japanese billionaire is throwing open a private lunar expedition to eight people from around the world. Yusaku Maezawa, an online fashion tycoon, was announced in 2018 as the first man to book a spot aboard the lunar spaceship being developed by SpaceX. Maezawa, who paid an undisclosed sum for the trip expected to launch around 2023, originally said he planned to invite six to eight artists to join him on the voyage.But on Wednesday, in a video posted …