Muscat hospital, the main COVID-19 center, surpassed 90 percent occupancy and its intensive care ward is full. “People are waiting to receive beds,” Dr. Nabil bin Muhammed al-Lawait, the Muscat field hospital director, told state-run media. “There is great pressure on hospital beds…and a shortage of medical staff.” Health officials report 1,800 COVID-19 infections and 19 deaths as of Monday. Severe cases, when the patient’s oxygen levels plummet, have increased to 400 a day, up from less than 50 daily cases in February....

The CDC notes that the symptoms of flu, COVID and other respiratory illnesses can sometimes be similar and that testing is needed to confirm a diagnosis. While the flu and COVID are caused by a specific type of virus, the common cold can be caused by various different viruses, including rhinoviruses, parainfluenza and seasonal coronaviruses (not to be confused with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19). Recently, reports have emerged that the more recent variants of COVID like Omicron have caused symptoms in people that have been described as like those of a cold....

Cardinals catcher A.J. Pierzynski gave it to him, and the longtime St. Louisan nailed it. MLB Network, for whom Costas called Tuesday’s Cardinals-Reds game at Busch Stadium, posted edited video of the adventure (and by edited, we mean took out the request for another pitch). MORE: Celebrity first pitches Seems like bad form to not embrace the initial fail, though. And, hey, Jon Hamm needed only one try Monday night....

Why does former President Barack Obama disparage the efforts of President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans to confirm Amy Coney Barrett as the Supreme Court replacement for the recently departed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg? After all, at the end of his term in 2016, Obama named—and exhorted the Senate to vote on—a nominee to replace the then-recently departed Justice Antonin Scalia. Why does Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell insist there will be a vote on Barrett when there was not one on Obama’s?...

They did. Bush and advisers had chosen the GOP event as an opportunity to unveil his new stump speech for his reelection campaign. After months of feigning indifference to electoral politics while Democrats pounded away at his record, the president was finally in the arena, telling the country why he deserved four more years in office. The speech he delivered was broad and expansive–reflecting on his record in issues foreign and domestic and looking forward to the challenges to come....

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder has been following the Brazilian’s career since he burst onto the scene as a precociously-gifted teenager at Santos. He has gone on to become a talismanic figure for club and country since moving to Camp Nou in 2013. Neymar’s Clasico ban appeal rejected Now 25, Neymar has reached 100 goals for Barca and shown that he is ready to join a talent group at the very top of the global game which is currently dominated by his club colleague Messi and Real Madrid talisman Ronaldo....

It’s the first province in the country to make this move as the “Freedom Convoy” of truckers continues to protest against vaccine mandates in Ottawa, the nation’s capital. For Saskatchewan’s population of nearly 1.2 million, vaccine passports will no longer be required starting February 14 and masks will no longer be required indoors by the end of the month. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said at a COVID update on Tuesday the costs of the vaccine passport mandate outweighed the benefits, as it has created a deep political divide....

There was doom and gloom when Barca missed out on La Liga to Real Madrid last season and saw their Champions League hopes ended with a second successive quarter-final exit as Luis Enrique left the club. Messi hat-trick 13/2 v Valencia And that was only the start. In a turbulent transfer window, Barca not only failed to bring in top target Marco Verratti, but also lost Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain in a move that shocked the football world....

CSL set to restrict foreign players Arsenal fans demanded Arsene Wenger invest in the Gunners squad over the summer and he duly obliged, spending almost £100million on players, including Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez. It was exactly what the doctor ordered after a previous summer window where they failed to sign an outfield player. Questions regarding Wenger’s ambition were asked despite Arsenal finishing in second place behind Leicester City in a season when the league was turned upside down by the greatest underdog story in sport....

1994 PC1 is expected to pass Earth at a distance of 0.013 astronomical units on January 18. Although this is technically a “close approach” according to NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), this distance translates to around 1.2 million miles—more than five times as far away from us as the moon is. Many asteroids also make close approaches to Earth every year. Part of the reason 1994 PC1 is classed as a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) is because of its size....

A homeowner in Cave Creek spotted the 4-foot-long Western diamondback “cruising their backyard,” a snake catcher working for relocation service Rattlesnake Solutions, Justin Bagby, told Newsweek. When Bagby arrived, the snake was stretched out on the grass. “He was very calm. This animal likely came in through the large gap under their gate. He made it to their patio and just hung out there. This animal was very relaxed and wasn’t too alarmed by my presence, even during its capture....

A poll released Thursday from CNBC/Change Research found that only 2 percent of likely voters who viewed the debate said that it had resulted in them changing who they intend to vote for. Since 2 percent is well within the poll’s margin of error, the debate may have influenced even fewer voters, or none. The poll also found that 53 percent of respondents believed that Biden won the debate, compared to only 29 percent for Trump....

New polling released Sunday by NBC News showed that only 25 percent of respondents said they approve of Biden’s handling of the situation in Afghanistan. Conversely, 60 percent of respondents said they disapproved of the president’s actions when it came to withdrawing from the two decades-long conflict. The poll was conducted from August 14 to 17 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent. One thousand U....

The survey, conducted by Lending Tree, also found that 88.8 percent of people who applied for forbearance and earned over $100,000 last year were approved, compared to the 50 percent of people who were approved that made between $25,000 and $35,000 annually. However, 75 percent of people making less than $25,000 were approved. Mortgage forbearance is when a lender allows homeowners a period of relief in which they will either have reduced payments or no payments altogether for the length of the agreement....

In NASCAR. We’ve all seen animals at times run onto a playing field, and in NASCAR that happens, too. There are times when NASCAR officials have to call for environmental cleanup, a.k.a. roadkill. Drivers have hit birds and other animals on the track, just like the rare baseball that hits an animal. Take this highlight from 2008 (not for the squeamish): But what spotters battle at Sonoma Raceway is different....

By Wednesday, I was taking shelter with strangers in a hotel basement. I was fortunate to get through Hurricane Ian safely with my husband, mom, brother, and two dogs. The loss of power (literally and figuratively) allowed me to reflect on lessons I learned about managing a disaster. And so did my senior shelter mates. In that hotel basement, my family waited out the storm alongside several older adults, who sat huddled around a table of power stations trying to contact insurance agents, pharmacies, and family....

On the pitching front, Chris Sale is the clear top option against the Rays in Tampa on DraftKings, while you’ll also have Clayton Kershaw and Corey Kluber available to you on the main slate for FanDuel. There are also a fair amount of value pitching options, as well, with Chase Anderson, Danny Duffy, and Garrett Richards all in decent spots, as well as high-K pitchers such as Dylan Bundy and Julio Teheran making for decent upside plays in tournaments....