Coronavirus category, Page 132
Staff member tests positive at Pittsburgh Mifflin elementary school
A staff member at Pittsburgh Mifflin has tested positive for covid-19, leading administrators to suspend Grab and Go lunches at that location. The elementary school will be closed until Wednesday, according to a district statement, while the facilities team deep cleans the building “out of an abundance of caution.” All...
Nearly $81M for eviction relief coming to Pennsylvania
Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect that $81 million is coming to Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is set to receive nearly $81 million in federal funding aimed at eviction relief, according to officials with U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. Pittsburgh will get about $3 million, Allegheny County is set to receive...
Westmoreland sees 23 new covid cases since Saturday
In the past two days, 23 new cases of coronavirus have been added to Westmoreland County’s total, according to a report Monday from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. All of the new cases — eight from Sunday, 15 from Monday — have been confirmed. Four previously probable cases were confirmed...
Federal judge rules Gov. Wolf’s shutdown orders were unconstitutional
A federal judge in Pittsburgh on Monday ruled that orders issued by Gov. Tom Wolf restricting the size of gatherings and closing nonessential businesses to protect against the spread of covid-19 were unconstitutional. In a statement, Wolf said his office will seek an immediate stay to halt the order and...
Pennsylvania posts 1,258 new coronavirus cases over past 2 days, 7 more deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced a two-day total of 1,258 new coronavirus cases Monday — with 638 coming on Sunday, 620 on Monday. This was the first weekend in which the state did not release a Sunday covid update, choosing instead to release both numbers on Monday. From Sept....
Allegheny County posts 142 new covid cases over past 2 days
On Monday, the Allegheny County Health Department announced 142 new covid-19 cases — but over a two-day span. Pennsylvania’s Department of Health said last week it will begin skipping a Sunday update on cases, choosing instead to publish a two-day report on Mondays. The result could lead to a seemingly...
Greenfield woman, 89, crafts hundreds of pandemic masks to donateVideo
Jackie Stebler pushes her walker among the rows of fabric. She’s in search of the perfect material. When she finds what she needs, she places it on the seat of the walker and keeps moving. Her daughter, Karen Culley, transfers the fabric pattern to a shopping cart. Jackie is on...
Pittsburgh Symphony and Opera performers grateful to play live concertVideo
A small group of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra musicians and a pair of singers from the Pittsburgh Opera stepped on an outdoor stage in front of a live audience Sunday night. It was the first high-profile concert in Pittsburgh since the start of the covid-19 pandemic and the first time these...
Josh McNeil and Sam Williamson: Pa. needs strong public transit for equitable pandemic recovery
The covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the economic and environmental inequities that plague Pittsburgh, and a strong public transit system will be necessary to get those impacted back to work and jump-start the economy when conditions are safe. With the Trump administration’s response to covid-19 a complete disaster — characterized by...
American could face fine over local virus spike in Germany
BERLIN — Officials in southern Germany are considering imposing hefty fines against a 26-year-old American woman linked to a cluster of coronavirus cases in the Alpine resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, including at a hotel that caters to U.S. military personnel. German media report that the woman, who lives locally and...
U.K. tests if covid-19 vaccines might work better inhaledVideo
LONDON — British scientists are beginning a small study comparing how two experimental coronavirus vaccines might work when they are inhaled by people instead of being injected. In a statement on Monday, researchers at Imperial College London and Oxford University said a trial involving 30 people would test vaccines developed...
Berlusconi released from covid hospitalization; cases rising in GermanyVideo
MILAN — Italy’s former Premier Silvio Berlusconi has been released from the hospital after a 10-day stay with covid-19 and pneumonia, saying he had never feared as much for his life as from this “insidious” disease. Wearing a suit and smiling, the 83-year-old Berlusconi urged Italians to take the virus...
From relief to despair, one Pa. family struggles with the ambiguity of federal eviction ban
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter. HARRISBURG — On Tuesday, Joseph Fallacaro exchanged anxious emails with his lawyer, trying to understand whether a new federal eviction...
Here’s what you should know about different covid-19 tests
Allegheny County and state officials have each begun including antigen test results in daily updates of covid-19 case counts. The new protocol, beginning in late August at both agencies, is approved by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. But it can still cause confusion when analyzing covid-19 data trends....
Israel to set new nationwide lockdown as coronavirus cases surgeVideo
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday announced a new countrywide lockdown will be imposed amid a stubborn surge in coronavirus cases, with schools and parts of the economy expected to shut down in a bid to bring down infection rates. Beginning Friday, the start of the Jewish...
Teacher departures leave schools scrambling for substitutes
INDIANAPOLIS — With many teachers opting out of returning to the classroom because of the coronavirus, schools around the U.S. are scrambling to find replacements and in some places lowering certification requirements to help get substitutes in the door. Several states have seen surges in educators filing for retirement or...
Because of pandemic, Pittsburgh Fashion Week has virtual look this year
Pittsburgh Fashion Week will have a signature look this year. Because of the pandemic, the event is being held virtually Sept. 21-25. There won’t be an in-person runway show, but there will be plenty of style, said John Valentine, executive director of the Downtown Community Development Corp., which is hosting...
Virus America, 6 months in: Disarray, dismay, disconnect
For years, Erin Whitehead has been a committed fan of the crisis-fueled medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy.” She has watched its doctors handle all manner of upheaval inside their put-upon hospital — terrifying diseases, destructive weather, bombs, mass shootings, mental illness, uncertainty, grief. Today, she turns to the emotionally draining show...
Trump’s virus debate: Project strength or level with public
WASHINGTON — “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” — President Franklin D. Roosevelt. “Men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour’” — British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. “One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear” — President Donald Trump. ——— In times of crisis...
AstraZeneca, Oxford University to resume trials of virus vaccine
LONDON — Oxford University says trials of a coronavirus vaccine its developing with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will resume, days after pausing due to a reported side effect in a patient in Britain. The university says in large trials “it is expected that some participants will become unwell and every case...
Dakotas lead U.S. in virus growth as both reject mask rules
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Coronavirus infections in the Dakotas are growing faster than anywhere else in the nation, fueling impassioned debates over masks and personal freedom after months in which the two states avoided the worst of the pandemic. The argument over masks raged this week in Brookings, South Dakota,...
Pennsylvania reports 920 additional coronavirus cases, 25 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Saturday reported 920 additional coronavirus cases and 25 new deaths, according to the state Department of Health. York County added 129 positive cases of covid-19, the state said. In all, there have been 143,805 coronavirus cases recorded in the state. With the 25 additional deaths, the state’s death...
Westmoreland County reports 17 additional covid-19 cases, no new deaths
Westmoreland County reported 17 additional coronavirus cases on Saturday, according to the state Department of Health. That brings the county’s total covid-19 cases to 1,962, with 1,888 confirmed and 74 probable. In all, 39,463 people in the county have tested negative. Westmoreland County coronavirus by dayInfogram With no new deaths...
Allegheny County reports 57 additional coronavirus cases, 1 new death
Allegheny County on Saturday reported 57 new coronavirus cases and one additional death, according to a report by the county’s health department. The additional cases — 43 of which were confirmed, 14 probable — bumped the county’s seven-day average to 60 per day. There were 1,127 total tests recorded during...
Owner of Medicine Shoppe in Jeannette denies ‘price gouging’
As owner of the Medicine Shoppe in Jeannette for 27 years, pharmacist James Beatty believes he’s served the needs of the community to the best of his ability. That’s why word this week that state Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Beatty entered into an agreement in response to a recent...
