Here are six COVID-19 updates from the last week:
1. COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising in some regions of California, with areas where there are lower vaccination rates recording hospitalization spikes, and COVID-19 admissions ticking up even in places with relatively high vaccination rates.
2. For the first time in its history, Traverse City, Mich.-based Munson Healthcare on Nov. 9 moved to level red pandemic protocols, the highest of the health system's five stages.
3. Colorado reactivated crisis standards of care Nov. 9 for staffing of healthcare systems in the state, which are facing workforce shortages amid the latest COVID-19 surge.
4. A federal appeals court in New Orleans suspended a federal COVID-19 vaccination requirement for private employers with more than 100 employees. This comes after 11 states sued the U.S. Nov. 5 over a COVID-19 vaccination mandate on private employers with more than 100 employees.
5. As the U.S. vaccination campaign for children ages 5-11 kicks off, COVID-19's pandemic-level status may soon evolve into an endemic, Scott Gottlieb, MD, former FDA commissioner and current Pfizer board member, told CBS News. Moving into an endemic-level phase is largely considered a mark of success because it means a transition from a COVID-19 pandemic emergency mode characterized by high hospitalizations and strained healthcare resources.
6. Amid health system and state COVID-19 vaccination requirements, workers have been fired for noncompliance, and some have resigned or quit. Here are stats from 37 organizations announced since June.