WATERTOWN — St. Lawrence County reported Thursday that one more county resident has died of COVID-19-related illness. Read More ⇒

LOWVILLE — Despite misinformation on social media outlets circulating over the weekend, proof of COVID-19 vaccination has not been mandated for the renewal of driver licenses and registrations. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — Corey C. Fram, director of the 1000 Islands International Tourism Council, thought that Canadians should have been allowed to start crossing the border to the United States a long time ago. Read More ⇒

NEW YORK — Gov. Kathy Hochul and top state officials will consider adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the state’s list of required inoculations for students attending New York school districts as federal regulators are expected to approve the shot for children ages 5 to 11 this month. Read More ⇒

Mixing COVID-19 vaccines produces as much or more antibodies as using the same shot as a booster, according to preliminary results of a widely awaited U.S. government-sponsored trial. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — Sen. Charles E. Schumer announced Tuesday night that he has received “direct confirmation” from U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas that the United States plans to reopen the U.S.-Canadian border to nonessential vaccinated travelers by early November. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — Two COVID-19-related deaths were reported Tuesday in Jefferson County as the number of virus cases across the tri-county area rose by 474 over the holiday weekend. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — On Sept. 27, the state vaccination mandate for health care workers took effect. All health care workers in New York state at hospitals and nursing homes were required to be vaccinated with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by this date, save for those with accommodations … Read More ⇒

COVID-19 has already killed more people in the United States this year than it did in 2020. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — The tri-county area reported 162 new COVID-19 cases Friday. No deaths were reported in Jefferson, Lewis or St. Lawrence counties. There are 47 people hospitalized due to the virus across the three counties. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — The tri-county area reported 164 new COVID-19 cases Thursday. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — The Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization, in collaboration with its health care partners across the region, has launched a new initiative for north country residents to ask COVID-19 vaccine-related questions, which will be answered by local medical providers. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — The Jefferson County Board of Legislators on Tuesday voted to pass a resolution decrying COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Read More ⇒

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced a $1 billion purchase of rapid at-home COVID-19 tests, an additional investment geared at expanding the availability of such products in the coming months. Read More ⇒

ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul has plans to quickly implement stricter COVID-19 restrictions if infections soar, including reimposing universal statewide mask mandates for New Yorkers to wear in public regardless of vaccination status, she said Tuesday. Read More ⇒

ALBANY — Staff at state hospitals for patients with mental health issues or disabilities will be required to have at least one dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine in less than one month, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday. Read More ⇒

CANTON — The St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators received a COVID-19 update Monday night from the county’s Interim Public Health Director Jolene F. Munger, and Dr. Andrew F. Williams, president of the county Board of Health. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — Jefferson and Lewis counties reported Tuesday that one additional resident from each county died from COVID-19-related illness. Read More ⇒

WASHINGTON — All Defense Department civilian employees must be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by Nov. 22, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said in a memorandum issued Monday. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — About 70% of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Jefferson County during September were unvaccinated, public health officials said Monday in sharing details about the county’s recent COVID-19 trends. Read More ⇒

An experimental pill from Merck & Co. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP slashed the risk of getting seriously ill or dying from COVID-19 in a study, findings that could eventually yield a simple way to treat many virus patients before they ever reach the hospital. Read More ⇒

WASHINGTON — The U.S. is turning the corner on the most recent surge in COVID-19 cases and more people need to get vaccinated to keep infections on a declining trend, infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci said. Read More ⇒

Rural Americans are dying of COVID at more than twice the rate of their urban counterparts — a divide that health experts say is likely to widen as access to medical care shrinks for a population that tends to be older, sicker, heavier, poorer and less vaccinated. Read More ⇒

As the holiday season approaches, Canadian citizens worry they will not be able to cross the land border to see their American families. Read More ⇒

SYRACUSE — Upstate Medical University has suspended or terminated 113 employees who did not get COVID-19 shots by the state’s vaccination mandate deadline Monday. Read More ⇒

LOWVILLE — Although the number of vaccinated people is creeping up at Lewis County Health System, the staffing challenge remains earnest and assistance from the state is non-existent. Read More ⇒

Four football games canceled this weekend could be just the start of changes at local schools as COVID-19 numbers climb across the region. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — Lewis and St. Lawrence counties each reported Friday that one of its residents has died from COVID-19-related illness. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — With this week’s state deadline for all students engaging in person at a SUNY campus or facility to be vaccinated against COVID-19, Jefferson Community College reports that the majority of its students have met the requirement. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — Reported cases of COVID-19 rose by 151 Thursday across the tri-county area. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — The Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization has released the results of the 2021 Community Health Survey of adult residents in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties, with a full report now available. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — Reported cases of COVID-19 rose by 169 Wednesday across the tri-county area. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — One-hundred new cases of COVID-19 were reported Tuesday across the tri-county area. Read More ⇒

WASHINGTON — As the nation’s land borders remain closed to nonessential traffic, a contingent of northern border state representatives are pushing the Biden administration to at least develop a plan for reopening. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — As the day many had been dreading finally came Monday, the day the state vaccination mandate for healthcare workers took effect, operations generally continued as they have during the COVID-19 pandemic at Samaritan Medical Center and through the entirety of its health system. Read More ⇒

LOWVILLE — A shortage of healthcare workers existed for years before the COVID-19 pandemic made it worse and controversies surrounding vaccinations for that disease compounded the problem, especially for small, rural hospitals classified as “critical access hospitals.” Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — One COVID-19-related death was were reported Monday in St. Lawrence County as the number of new virus cases rose over the weekend by 308 across the tri-county area. Read More ⇒

Gov. Kathy Hochul doubled down to defend the state’s vaccine mandate for health workers that went into effect at midnight, expressing confidence the legal mandates will hold up in court in the wake of several challenges from workers’ unions and affected employees. Read More ⇒

MALONE — Franklin County Public Health will host a COVID-19 vaccination clinic Thursday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at St. Andre’s Outreach Center, 12 Homestead Park. Read More ⇒

SYRACUSE — Upstate Medical University employees who cannot prove by 5 p.m. Monday that they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19 won’t be allowed to work Tuesday and will likely be suspended without pay. Read More ⇒

Public-health researchers seeking new ways to persuade vaccine holdouts to take coronavirus shots are turning to the strategies of the digital marketing industry to figure out how to win over the reluctant. Read More ⇒

ALBANY — As Monday’s deadline for New York health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 looms, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Saturday that she is prepared to declare a state of emergency and deploy the National Guard to address potential staffing shortages. Read More ⇒

WASHINGTON — Parts of the U.S. health system “are in dire straits,” as the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant forces some states to prepare for rationed medical care, said Rochelle Walensky, head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — Two COVID-19-related deaths were reported Friday in St. Lawrence County. Read More ⇒