PLUS: The Covid-19 headlines you need to know, a distraction, and something to read.
By Eve Sneider | 12.06.21 | NYC announces a vaccine mandate for private companies, US travelers face new testing rules, and researchers investigate Omicron's mutations. Here's what you should know: |  | NYC rolls out a first-of-its-kind vaccine mandate for private companies (CBS New York) Today, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that in-person employees at private companies in New York City must be vaccinated against Covid-19. He called this a first-of-its-kind mandate. More detailed rules will come out next week, but so far he's said that there will not be a weekly testing option and the mandate will go into effect December 27. Starting next week, the city will also require that children ages 5 to 11 show proof of at least one shot to participate in indoor activities including dining, fitness, and entertainment. The US amends testing rules for travelers to curb the spread of Omicron (Washington Post) As of today, all international travelers entering the US must show proof of a negative Covid-19 test from within a day of their flight into the country. This requirement is part of a strategy to slow the spread of the Omicron variant. The plan also includes extending the mask mandate for people on commercial flights and other transportation, as well as expanding a voluntary testing program for arrivals at some US airports. New research finds that Omicron may have picked up mutations from the common cold (Reuters) New research suggests that the Omicron variant picked up a genetic sequence from another virus, potentially the one behind the common cold. The study, conducted by the Cambridge, Massachusetts–based data analytics company Nference and recently published as a preprint, says this piece of genetic material, which doesn't appear in any earlier versions of SARS-CoV-2, could be responsible for at least one of the new strain's mutations. Researchers will likely need weeks to begin to understand the origins of Omicron's mutations and how transmissible that makes the variant. | | Last month, Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai wrote on Weibo about being sexually assaulted by a prominent official—and the post was promptly taken down. Her story sheds light on the pervasive social impacts of censorship in China. | | There are few things worse than a bad night of sleep. Here are a few gift ideas for someone in your life in need of quality z's. | |
