Connect with us

Washington, D.C

Flu cases surging around DMV region

Published

on

Flu cases surging around DMV region


Flu cases are climbing sharply across the D.C. region, with new CDC data showing at least 11 million cases nationwide so far. Health officials say a new variant now accounts for roughly 90% of recent infections.

Advertisement

FOX 5’s Stephanie Ramirez says local health departments are urging residents not to wait if they start feeling sick.

READ MORE: Maryland health officials warn of flu surge as hospitalizations rise statewide

The dominant strain this season is H3N2 subclade K, which has been circulating since September. So far, the flu season has led to an estimated 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, with older adults hit especially hard.

Advertisement

Maryland is currently reporting high flu activity, according to state health department data.

READ MORE: Flu cases surging in northern Virginia, health officials say

Advertisement

In Arlington, emergency department–diagnosed flu visits jumped from 19 on Dec. 6 to 120 on Dec. 27 — an over five times increase, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

Fairfax County, a much larger jurisdiction, saw flu-related ER visits rise from 121 on Dec. 6 to 788 by Dec. 27, an over six-and-a-half-time increase.

NewsHealthWashington, D.C.MarylandVirginiaTop Stories
Advertisement



Source link

Washington, D.C

Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump to meet in DC to discuss Iran talks | The Jerusalem Post

Published

on

Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump to meet in DC to discuss Iran talks | The Jerusalem Post


“The Prime Minister believes that any negotiations must include limiting ballistic missiles and ending support for the Iranian axis,” the PMO stated.

Trump stated that the talks, which took place on Friday in Muscat, Oman, were “very good” and that US and Iranian officials are “going to meet again early next week,” while speaking with reporters on Air Force One.

“They want to make a deal,” Trump said of Iran, adding that, regardless of other terms that may be included in a potential future deal, Iran will be allowed “no nuclear weapons.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was present for the Omani-mediated discussion, asserted that Iran’s ballistic missile programs “cannot be negotiated, neither now nor in the future,” in a Saturday interview with Qatari state-run news agency Al-Jazeera.

Advertisement

In a separate speech delivered at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, Araghchi decried what he alleged was “inequality” in the way Israeli arms programs are treated.

Araghchi claimed that “Israel is free to expand its military arsenal without limits, including weapons of mass destruction that remain outside any inspection regime” while other nations, such as Iran, are “demanded to disarm.”

He accused Israel of being an “expansionist project” that “permanently enjoys the upper hand” while requiring “that neighboring countries be weakened militarily, technologically, economically, and socially.”

Tobias Holcman contributed to this report.





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Washington, D.C

Hegseth says National Guard members shot in DC ambush by Afghan national will receive Purple Heart

Published

on

Hegseth says National Guard members shot in DC ambush by Afghan national will receive Purple Heart


NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Friday that two West Virginia National Guard members — Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe — who were shot in an ambush-style attack near the White House late last year, will receive the Purple Heart.

Calling the Nov. 26 incident “a terrible thing” and saying the troops were “attacked by a radical,” Hegseth made the announcement while speaking at a National Guard reenlistment ceremony at the Washington Monument, where he administered the oath of enlistment to more than 100 Guardsmen from nine states serving in Washington, D.C.

“And we had a terrible thing happen a number of months ago,” Hegseth said. “Andrew Wolfe, Sarah Beckstrom, one lost, one recovered, thank God, in miraculous ways. Both soon to be Purple Heart recipients because they were attacked by a radical.”

Advertisement

The remarks mark the first public confirmation from Hegseth that the service members will receive the Purple Heart, one of the nation’s oldest military decorations, awarded to those killed or wounded by enemy action.

AFGHAN NATIONAL ACCUSED IN DC NATIONAL GUARD SHOOTING PLEADS NOT GUILTY, PROSECUTORS MAY SEEK DEATH PENALTY

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth hosts a reenlistment ceremony for National Guard members at the Washington Monument, Friday, in Washington, D.C. (DoW Photo/U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza)

The Purple Heart traces its origins to the American Revolution, when George Washington established the Badge of Military Merit in 1782, to recognize enlisted soldiers wounded or killed in service. The modern Purple Heart was revived in 1932, and is awarded in the name of the president to U.S. service members wounded or killed by enemy action.

Beckstrom, 20, and Wolfe, 24, were shot just blocks from the White House in what officials described as an ambush-style attack.

Advertisement

Beckstrom died a day after the shooting. Wolfe was seriously wounded and continues to recover.

BONDI DESCRIBES WOUNDED NATIONAL GUARDSMAN AS A ‘MIRACLE,’ SAYS ‘HE’S ABLE TO OPEN BOTH EYES’

 National Guard Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom was killed in a shooting incident, Nov. 26, in Washington D.C.  (Department of Justice)

The accused gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, faces nine charges related to the shooting, including first-degree murder while armed and assault with intent to kill while armed. He has pleaded not guilty.

In a statement posted on X, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey thanked Hegseth for the announcement and said the recognition was long overdue.

Advertisement

“I thank Secretary @PeteHegseth for announcing that U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe will soon receive the Purple Heart, an honor that reflects their courage and sacrifice in defense of our nation,” Morrisey wrote.

Morrisey said he formally requested the Purple Heart awards Dec. 19, adding that the announcement “brings long-overdue honor to their service, offers meaning and reassurance to their families, and stands as a solemn reminder that West Virginia will never forget those who sacrifice in defense of others.”

Hegseth’s remarks Friday came during a ceremony honoring the National Guard’s ongoing security mission in the nation’s capital. 

According to a War Department news release, more than 100 Guardsmen from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia reenlisted Friday as part of the mission.

REP BRIAN MAST: CONGRESS HAS THE PERFECT WAY TO HONOR OUR NATION’S FALLEN HEROES

Advertisement

National Guard Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was wounded in a shooting incident, Nov. 26, in Washington D.C. (Department of Justice)

Those troops are among more than 2,600 National Guard members currently deployed in Washington at the direction of President Donald Trump in support of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which was established in August 2025 after the president declared a crime emergency in the city.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Addressing the Guardsmen, Hegseth described their service in Washington as “front lines” duty.

“This is not an easy assignment. It’s the real deal. It’s front lines,” he said. “You’ve done it, and you’ve done well.”

Advertisement

The Army could not immediately provide comment after being reached by Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf and Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this story.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Washington, D.C

Potomac sewage spill: Repairs to take weeks longer after large rocks found in pipe

Published

on

Potomac sewage spill: Repairs to take weeks longer after large rocks found in pipe


The blockage inside the collapsed sewer line that sent hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage into the Potomac River is worse than previously thought, and it’s going to take weeks longer to repair, DC Water officials said.

It will likely take an additional four to six weeks to get a system in place to safely remove large rocks and boulders crews found inside the sewer line during an overnight inspection, DC Water said in an update early Friday morning.

“Standard cleaning methods using industrial vacuums and jets are not sufficient to remove these large boulders,” DC Water said. “Addressing this blockage will require both larger machinery and manual labor. Workers will need to safely enter the pipe, use slings to maneuver around the rocks, and then rely on heavy equipment to extract each boulder, making removal a complex and highly specialized operation.”

DC Water

DC Water

The “large rock dam” stretches about 30 feet downstream of the original pipe collapse, the agency said.

Advertisement

According to DC Water, the rocks were likely excavated during the pipe’s construction in the 1960s and used as backfill. When the pipe failure happened last month, the rocks were drawn in by the force of the wastewater flow.

Then, as the surrounding material eroded into the sinkhole created by the collapse, extra rocks and soil accumulated and filled the pipe, helping create the rock dam.

DC Water said its bypass pump system near the spill has mostly contained the overflow of wastewater, but hasn’t stopped it. Reducing the flow of water through the pipe further means adding more of those pumps, DC Water said.

University of Maryland researchers say the spill spewed harmful bacteria as far as 10 miles downstream from the sewage overflow site.

The bacteria now in the Potomac River water, according to those UMD researchers, includes E. coli, the bacteria behind Staph infections and the antibiotic-resistant form of Staph known as MRSA.

Advertisement

To make matters worse, the cold water and outdoor temperatures are acting like a refrigerator, keeping the bacteria alive for longer as it travels downstream.

News4 Meteorologist Ryan Miller explained how the colder temperatures may be slowing the natural cleansing of the river from the spill.

“The water temperature right now is 39 degrees,” Miller told News4’s Mark Segraves. “That’s refrigerator temperature water. And that water will help to slow the growth of the bacteria, prevent the die-off, a massive die-off of the bacteria. So from that standpoint, the cold water can actually help transport further distances some of the pathogens.”

UMD officials urged anyone who comes in contact with the water to get tested.

DC Water is also conducting water quality sampling at multiple locations to check for E. coli bacteria, and also found elevated levels after the spill.

Advertisement

The spill took place below the point in the river where D.C.’s drinking water comes from, which means the D.C. water supply has not been impacted and is safe, according to DC Water.

It’s been more than two weeks since the sewer pipe collapsed on Jan. 19, causing 300 million gallons of sewage and wastewater to flow into the Potomac River.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending