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President Joe Biden on Thursday asked businesses to voluntarily move forward with the administration’s Covid-19 vaccine and testing requirements, even as the rule is challenged in court, after U.S. officials confirmed the first case of the omicron variant in the U.S. “We’re asking businesses to step forward and do what’s right to protect our workers and to protect our communities, which is to put in place some sort of vaccination requirement or testing requirements for the workplace,” a senior administration official said. (Kimball, 12/2)

Tennessee on Wednesday halted dozens of exemptions that allowed businesses and public entities to require people to take COVID-19 preventive measures in spite of a state law severely limiting them, citing court rulings that blocked some of President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates. State Comptroller Jason Mumpower’s announcement — at least for now — strips away protections for some private organizations to continue requiring proof of vaccination, and for some government entities to keep vaccination requirements or mask mandates. One of the two recent court rulings applied to federal contractors, and the other applied to certain Medicaid and Medicare health care providers. (Matisse, 12/1)

The sponsor of a bill that would prohibit Ohio employers and schools from mandating vaccines not fully approved by the federal government described the measure Tuesday afternoon as the way to entice people back to the workforce. “Simply put, this piece of legislation is a bill to address the crisis that our country is facing, and specifically here in the state of Ohio,” sponsor Rep. Al Cutrona, a Youngstown-area Republican, testified before the Senate General Government Budget Committee. “That crisis is that the workforce is struggling. We are seeing shortages…Every legislator across the board always says they’re going to bring back jobs to their district, right?” (Hancock, 11/30)

Bristol Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N) was sued on Wednesday by four employees who said the drugmaker refused to grant them religious exemptions from its COVID-19 vaccination requirement, and threatened to fire them on Dec. 6 for remaining unvaccinated. The plaintiffs in the proposed class action filed in Manhattan federal court accused Bristol Myers of violating a federal civil rights law known as Title VII by "systematically manufacturing" reasons to refuse religious accommodations. (Stempel, 12/2)

An appeals court on Wednesday halted a federal judge’s order that had stopped Texas from enforcing its ban on mask mandates in the state’s schools, allowing the prohibition to remain in effect. In a 15-page ruling, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans granted a request by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to stay the ruling by U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel. The appeals court on Nov. 24 had already granted an administrative stay while it issued a formal ruling on Paxton’s request. (Lozano, 12/2)

Maryland’s 24 school systems could soon be relieved of the state’s mask mandate and left to decide for themselves whether to require face coverings in schools. State leaders took the first step toward local control of masking at schools during a meeting Tuesday of the Maryland State Board of Education, where members voted 12 to 2 for a measure that would start to move in that direction. (St. George, 12/1)

Nebraska health officials said Wednesday that the vast majority of the COVID-19 patients who are filling the state’s hospitals are unvaccinated and many are younger adults. The number of people hospitalized in Nebraska with the virus continues to climb and reached 555 on Tuesday, which was the highest it had been since last winter. The state said 14% of the hospitalized patients were between the ages of 20 and 44, and doctors at several of Nebraska’s biggest hospitals said younger patients have been showing up in intensive care units more often. (Funk, 12/1)

Jacksonville doctors say they've been anticipating a surge in COVID cases this winter that could be exacerbated by the new omicron variant. As of Tuesday, no omicron cases have been identified in the U.S. yet, but Jacksonville residents should remain vigilant with mask wearing and social distancing, said Dr. Chirag Patel, assistant chief medical officer at UF Health Jacksonville. The emergence of omicron comes at a time when many Floridians have shed their masks in public as the threat of the delta variant fades. But now is not the time to grow lackadaisical, Patel said. The World Health Organization says the new variant poses a very high risk based on early research. (Heddles, 12/1)

A COVID-19 outbreak has hit the Dallas Cowboys hard, illuminating just how risky team sports can be when it comes to the spread of the coronavirus, public health experts say. The outbreak has put several Cowboys players and coaches, including head coach Mike McCarthy, in lockdown as the team prepares for Thursday night’s game against the New Orleans Saints. (Wolf, 12/1)

Nearly two years after the coronavirus first surfaced, kids continue to wrestle with what the pandemic means for them. Their questions range in tone and urgency, with some seeking more clarity about the vaccines and others wondering why such precautions as mask wearing and social distancing are still necessary even with the proliferation of COVID-19 immunizations. Here are some of the questions that students asked during sessions with Johns Hopkins Health Education and Training Corps volunteers and staff, with responses from several Maryland-based physicians and public health experts. (Miller, 12/1)