The Biden administration is floating a long-awaited proposal to make cigarettes less addictive by capping their nicotine levels.

Much of the United States is seeing a promising decline in COVID-19 cases, but Michigan is not one of them.

Coronavirus cases suddenly surge in various parts of the country and then fall as the virus moves somewhere else.

On Monday, Pfizer is meeting with federal health officials to explain why the pharmaceutical company believes booster shots might be needed.

As of June 13, about 10% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have been identified as the delta variant, a mutation first detected in India. Scientists are still trying to figure out just how dangerous it is.

But Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchison announced Tuesday he is dropping the state’s mask mandate immediately, a day earlier than previously announced. Gretchen Whitmer to ask whether the White House has considered surging additional vaccines to states with rapidly increasing infection rates. Kay Ivey intends for her state’s mask mandate to end on April 9 as planned, though she urged people to wear masks as a matter of personal responsibility. Eric Holcomb, to reconsider dropping the state’s mask mandate.

(AP Photo/Richard Vogel)With a COVID-19 vaccine perhaps just days away in the U.S., most of California headed into another lockdown Sunday because of the surging outbreak and top health officials warned Americans that this is no time to let their guard down. With the U.S. facing what could be a catastrophic winter, top government officials warned Americans anew to wear masks, practice social distancing and follow other basic measures — precautions that President Donald Trump and other members of the administration have often disdained. The new rules in the state of 40 million people prohibit residents from gathering with those outside their household. California health authorities imposed the order after ICU capacity fell below a 15% threshold in some regions. Current estimates project that a combined total of no more than 40 million doses will be available by the end of the year.

But the first so-called antigen test — announced Saturday by the Food and Drug Administration — is not quite the kind sought by top government health officials. WHY IS ANTIGEN TESTING IMPORTANT? The new test uses a nasal swab like other screening tests, and delivers results in about 15 minutes. OraSure Technologies has a $710,000 federal contract to develop a saliva-based antigen test that could be performed at home. The company has antigen tests for other viruses — including HIV and Ebola — and those have accuracy rates of over 95%.