Starting Sept. 25, Americans will again be able to order free COVID-19 tests through the federal government. The news comes amid the ninth consecutive week of COVID-19 hospital admissions increasing across the U.S. 

All pregnant individuals should have their blood pressure checked during every single prenatal visit, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends. 

The CDC will award Boston-based Northeastern University $17.5 million over the next five years to create an innovation center designed to help communities detect and prepare for future infectious disease outbreaks. 

The COVID-19 uptick in some parts of the country may have peaked, recent wastewater surveillance data suggests. 

The White House is planning to create a new federal office dedicated to gun violence prevention, The Washington Post first reported Sept. 19. 

More than 20,500 patients with COVID-19 were admitted to U.S. hospitals for the week ending Sept. 9, according to the latest CDC update. 

The World Health Organization on Sept. 19 published its first-ever report on high blood pressure — a condition behind 10.8 million avoidable deaths every year, according to the report. 

Women are less likely than men to receive CPR in public places, but older people, especially older men, are less likely to get CPR in private locations, new research has found.

The Arkansas Department of Health is reporting one resident has died after contracting a brain-eating amoeba from a splash pad at the Country Club of Little Rock, according to a Sept. 14 news release.

This fall and winter, U.S. hospitals could see similar levels of capacity and resource strain as last year, the CDC said in a Sept. 14 outlook on respiratory virus season. 

The HHS has officially launched its Bridge Access Program to support access to free COVID-19 vaccines for uninsured Americans, according to a Sept. 14 news release.

There were nearly 19,000 new COVID-19 admissions in U.S. hospitals for the week ending Sept. 2, according to the latest data from the CDC. 

Vaccines for the three most closely watched viruses — COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus — will soon be available just before the respiratory virus season is in full swing.

The omicron subvariant BA.2.86 has been identified in at least seven states as of Sept. 13, according to outbreak.info, a platform that tracks data on COVID-19 variants and is supported by the CDC and other national research groups.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham released public health orders Sept. 8 outlining steps toward addressing two key issues: gun violence and the fentanyl crisis.

Healthcare leaders are closely watching respiratory virus trends heading into fall. Overall, there is a healthy dose of optimism that the U.S. won't see the same levels of severe disease that strained hospitals nationwide last year, though it's still too early to determine whether a "tripledemic" of COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus will play out in some capacity. 

Meta's new social media platform Threads is blocking searches related to COVID-19, a move that has been met with scrutiny from public health officials, The Washington Post reported Sept. 11.

Members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will vote Sept. 12 on for whom the new COVID-19 vaccination will be recommended, but some critics say it should be only for older and immunocompromised populations, KFF Health News reported Sept. 11.

The Biden administration has halted a $125 million research program that aimed to collect and isolate thousands of exotic pathogens amid concerns from lawmakers and scientists that the research could trigger an accidental outbreak, The Washington Post reported Sept. 7. 

The CDC has started publishing weekly updates on respiratory viruses, with the latest focused on flu shot efficacy and the BA.2.86 COVID-19 variant.