The Air Force says it’s aiming to eliminate a roughly 30-day bottleneck in the application process for reinstatement of former airmen discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.

The judge said a jury must decide whether the anti-mask rule crossed a line into an intentional wrong.

The upgraded records offer a path to reinstatement without a waiver. More than half of those identified for upgrades were involuntarily discharged solely for declining the shot, the Air Force said.

Brig. Gen. Christopher Sage said his petition to clear his name is not only for him, but airmen “watching my case to see whether they are going to submit their case” to an Air Force board reviewing COVID-related adverse actions.

The Defense Department plans to review the records of thousands of service members who were discharged solely for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

The U.S. State Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday recommended avoiding all travel to Japan, and placed it in their highest risk categories, level four.

Many parents are trying to navigate a new world where people are ditching masks and returning to normal while their young children — anxious for interaction after a year of mostly virtual school or having to avoid day care — are still at risk of getting the coronavirus.

Gazans and international aid agencies raced to head off overlapping medical crises Saturday as hospitals already overrun with injuries from the 11-day bombardment by Israel struggled to treat a surge in coronavirus cases from packed shelters.