In early October, conservative columnist Patrick Hampton helped remove his brother from the hospital to try at-home (and unproven) COVID treatments like Vitamin D and ivermectin. He shared the entire experience on Facebook. Days later, his brother died. timesfreepress.com/news/local/sto…

Facebook suspended Patrick Hampton's account today.

My college requested some photos of me at work for an alumni newsletter so I went digging through our archives and realized I never posted these that C.B. Schmelter took back in Feb. First and only time I got inside a COVID ICU/patient room, but I'll never forget it.

It makes sense that a pandemic would prompt a comprehensive, nonpartisan evaluation of laws governing public health authority. But that's not what happened in TN's rushed special session, and localities could suffer both health & political consequences. timesfreepress.com/news/local/sto…

This is not a good look, Tennessee. bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…

Booster eligibility can still be confusing So here's my guide to help you decide whether you should get a booster 6 months after your 2nd shot: Are you an adult? If yes, get a booster

Absolutely. Freaking. Hilarious. If you're a COVID nerd, this will make your year. Let's ALL hope for better in 2022. Truly.

Hamilton County reported 948 new COVID-19 cases today, the largest single-day case increase since ... well, ever. I asked our health department if there should be qualifiers for this data. Like did they just clear a backlog from Christmas? Nope.

Now there are 3 reports for vaccine effectiveness vs Omicron hospitalization, UK Health Security Agency, Kaiser Permanente Research and today's MMWR. They are quite consistent for marked protection of the 3rd shot (booster). My summary table here

Overwhelmed hospitals unable to treat those in need was once a primary concern and reason why TN/local govs issued emergency orders and policies to limit COVID transmission. Now that concern is realized, Gov. Bill Lee says an emergency order isn't needed. timesfreepress.com/news/local/sto…

Huge, huge news in the cat journalism world. Cat journalists will need a lot of coffee to get through the day and keep up with all the news.

“A common theme for the best numbers stories is you can’t tell that they are numbers stories.” -Holly Hacker #NICAR22

Tennessee just reported its first day with more than 2,000 COVID-19 infections since February, per CDC. Also, predictably, hospitalizations from the virus are now rising, doubling over the last 17 days. Please take this seriously. Get your boosters. The virus is not done with us.

Excited to have this opportunity for health care journalists coming to Chattanooga in July (btw this is free for all Association of Health Care Journalists members/annual membership is $60 and gives you access to lots of great resources like this). Y'all hit me up for lodging and food recs!