Anna Huntsman

Some Ohio K-12 students returned to in-person schooling Monday with new COVID-19 rules in place – no longer having to quarantine at home if they were…

Cleveland Clinic researchers are getting ready to embark on a clinical trial testing a breast cancer vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently greenlighted a breast cancer vaccine technology developed at Cleveland Clinic, which allows clinical trials for the vaccine to move forward. If effective, the vaccine could become a regular part of women’s health care, said Dr. Vincent Tuohy, a cancer researcher at the clinic who invented the vaccine.

Updated: 5:15 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020 Cleveland-area hospital employees began receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Wednesday. Dr. Sherrie Williams, a pulmonary critical care specialist, was the first MetroHealth employee to receive the COVID-19 shot. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous," Dr. Williams said, minutes before she received the shot. Despite her initial fears, Williams later said the vaccine felt like any other shots she has ever received and she felt fine after.

Updated: 2:40 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020 The first Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine doses have arrived in Northeast Ohio. Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth, the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center in Cleveland, as well as Aultman Hospital in Canton, all received shipments Tuesday morning. Cleveland Clinic and Aultman received their vaccines shortly after 9 a.m., while MetroHealth got its allocation around 8:45 a.m. – a little earlier than hospital officials had expected.

Updated: 11:15 a.m., Monday, Dec. 14, 2020 The first shipments of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine have arrived in Ohio, and Ohioans will begin getting vaccinated as soon as Monday morning. Trucks carrying the vaccines rolled into an area outside of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus around 9:30 a.m. Monday. “This really is the day we've been waiting for,” Gov. Mike DeWine said. “It starts the process of the end. We know the end is a long way off, but the end now is in sight.”

As record-breaking numbers of coronavirus cases continue to be reported across the U.S., Ohio and other states have invoked curfew orders to try to stem the surge. But some medical and public health experts are puzzled by curfew orders, saying there is not much scientific evidence that curfews will do much to slow the spread of the virus.

Updated: 4:35 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2020 The City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County have issued a stay-at-home advisory starting Wednesday and ending on Dec. 17 in an attempt to curb the skyrocketing spread of COVID-19 in the area.

Updated 4:20 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, 2020 As the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to climb in Ohio, Cleveland-area hospital leaders are concerned about the growing number of health care workers who are out sick with the coronavirus. According to hospital officials, about 800 Cleveland Clinic employees, 200 at University Hospitals, and 60 MetroHealth staffers are out, making it more difficult to care for the rising number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Cuyahoga County.

Updated: 4:20 p.m., Friday, Nov. 13, 2020 As COVID-19 cases are soaring across Ohio and here in Cuyahoga County, Cleveland Clinic is postponing non-essential surgical procedures that require a hospital stay until Friday, Nov. 20 to free up beds and staffing for potential COVID-19 patients. The health system initially paused surgeries for two days, but extended the postponement to a week on Friday, officials said. They will reevaluate surgical cases on an ongoing basis, a Clinic spokesperson said.

As Ohio continues to report record-breaking rates of COVID-19 cases, Kent State public health professor Tina Bhargava says Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and other state and local leaders need to consider closing some businesses to stem the surge in cases. Some shutdowns are needed to get COVID-19 under control in Ohio, Bhargava said.