A delegation of bipartisan Bexar County state lawmakers wrote a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday in support of a request made by San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff for more state contract nurses in San Antonio and Bexar County hospitals.

If you are motivated to get back to the gym after having COVID-19, there are several things you need to consider, sports medicine doctors with the Cleveland Clinic said.

It will force Democrats to make politically painful choices about what to do next on the federal minimum wage, which has long caused internal party rifts. The proposal would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 over five years, well over the $7.25 in effect since 2009. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have voiced opposition to including the minimum wage hike in the relief bill, and other moderates have expressed concerns, too. But they’d still face the challenge of garnering 60 Senate votes, a hurdle that has upended Democratic attempts to boost the minimum wage for over a decade. But those same Senate rules prohibit provisions with only an “incidental” impact on the federal budget because they are chiefly driven by other policy purposes.

She said 24 hours after getting the vaccine, no one has reported getting side effects. Tracy Holmes said knowing that her 80-year-old mother Carole Austin has gotten the vaccine offers that sense of hope and reunion. “We would be able to be with her again and not have to visit through a window,” Holmes said. Holmes said the staff at the assisted living facility deserve accolades for taking care of their loved ones during such a critical time. “They have not only had to be caregivers, but they’ve had to be interim family members for us,” Holmes said.

SAN ANTONIO – The South Texas Veterans Health Care System on Wednesday began administering COVID-19 vaccinations to frontline health care employees and veterans residing in long-term care Community Living and Spinal Cord Injury and Disorder centers. The VA System is part of the initial group of 37 VA medical centers across the country that began receiving and administering the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week. “The South Texas Veterans Health Care System is proud to be a part of the initial 37 VA medical centers receiving the vaccine,” said Christopher R. Sandles, Medical Center Director/CEO. “We are dedicated to ensuring all Veterans receiving care at VA and our employees are ultimately offered the vaccine.”The vaccine is administered as a series of 2 doses, 21 days apart. VA will report directly to the CDC data on all vaccine doses administered by VA.

SAN ANTONIO – On day one of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution, medical teams in San Antonio got their hands on 5,800 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. UT Health San Antonio was the first to receive the shipments and will reportedly have nearly 30,000 doses by the end of the week. Though it is exciting news, Dr. Fred Campbell with UT Health San Antonio said he worries people will see the vaccine arrive and neglect safety protocols like wearing masks and social distancing. “It will be at least six months before we can ensure that the transmission of this virus is curtailed,” Campbell said. “Until people are tested and proven to have immunity after vaccination, they can transmit the virus to anyone else,” he said.

Regular unemployment benefits:This traditional unemployment program provides assistance for up to 26 weeks per year. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA):If you apply for unemployment and the workforce commission finds that you do not qualify for regular benefits, the agency should automatically consider you for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and enroll you if you are found eligible. Here, under the claim information section, you will see your claim type listed as: Regular Unemployment Benefits, Disaster Unemployment Benefits (for now, this is the same as Pandemic Unemployment Assistance), or Temporary Unemployment Benefits (extensions). If you have exhausted your Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and have not recently been on regular unemployment, you don’t qualify for any kind of extension. Unless Congress takes action to extend the pandemic unemployment benefits in the CARES Act, two programs will expire after Dec. 26: Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or PEUC.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the ABC Television Network said Monday that the 93rd Academy Awards will now be held April 25, 2021, eight weeks later than originally planned because of the pandemics effects on the movie industry. The Oscars ceremony date was the big lingering unknown, however. Now, Oscars nominations will be announced on March 15 and the nominees luncheon will be on April 15. Further, the future eligibility of films for the 94th Oscars and that show date will be announced later. The eligibility window was extended beyond 12 months once before in advance of the 6th Academy Awards in 1934.

Dawn Emerick has responded to conflicting information from the World Health Organization about asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19. Coronavirus update San Antonio, June 9: 180 new cases, 2 new COVID-19 deaths reported; Officials discuss reopening county courtsOn Monday, an official with the World Health Organization suggested asymptomatic people only rarely spread COVID-19. WHO clarifies comments on asymptomatic spread of coronavirus: Theres much unknownMetro Health also released this statement:Throughout this response, public health officials have had to adapt to new and changing circumstances. In fact, our team just concluded a asymptomatic testing study that will shed light on the rate of asymptomatic infections and what that means for our communitys public health response. We know that there is substantial asymptomatic spread, which is why we ask people to wear masks.