Coronavirus category, Page 200
No new coronavirus deaths reported in Allegheny County for 2nd straight day
The Allegheny County Health Department reported 20 additional cases of the coronavirus Monday, but no new deaths. The county has had 102 deaths and 1,365 cases in total. The health department said 14% — 194 cases — in the county are in health care workers. The county also reported no...
Allegheny Health Network expands access to drive-up coronavirus tests
Allegheny Health Network is expanding drive-up covid-19 testing to patients of non-AHN affiliated health care providers. The patients will need a doctor’s order to be tested. The drive-up testing started in March and is now available at seven locations in the region. “At AHN, drive-up testing for covid-19 is part...
Adam Marles: Nursing homes need emergency pandemic funding
Like most Pennsylvanians, our commonwealth’s nursing home providers watch Secretary of Health Rachel Levine’s daily updates with hope, but also with concern as we hear the latest numbers of nursing facility and personal care home residents who have tested positive for covid-19. As this battle for the health of Pennsylvania...
Pittsburgh enacts hiring freeze as tax revenues dry up during pandemic
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, faced with evaporating tax revenue caused by the coronavirus pandemic, on Monday announced a halt on filling 64 vacant positions across city government. The hiring freeze will save approximately $3 million in budgeted salaries, according to the Mayor’s Office. Peduto lauded city employees for their work...
TSA screener at Pittsburgh International diagnosed with coronavirus
A Transportation Security Administration employee at Pittsburgh International Airport has tested positive for covid-19, officials said. The person last worked April 25, according to the TSA website. It is the only covid-19 case that’s been logged by the TSA at Pittsburgh’s airport. Across the country, there are 516 TSA employees...
Western Pa. college students in line for cash from coronavirus stimulus package
Students struggling to make ends meet after colleges and universities shuttered earlier this spring could soon see extra cash in their bank accounts. Schools across the country are receiving millions of dollars for eligible students as part of the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act. It provides students...
Italy eases long lockdown, leaders push vaccine effortVideo
ROME — Millions of people were allowed to return to work in Italy on Monday as Europe’s longest lockdown started to ease, while countries from Iceland to India took a patchwork of steps to loosen coronavirus restrictions. Businesses including hairdressers in Greece and restaurants in Lebanon were opening their doors...
In televised town hall, Trump pushes for economic reopeningVideo
WASHINGTON — Anxious for an economic recovery, President Donald Trump fielded Americans’ questions about decisions by some states to allow nonessential businesses to reopen while other states are on virtual lockdown due to the coronavirus. After more than a month of being cooped up at the White House, Trump returned...
Official: Trump had 2 intel briefings on coronavirus in late January
WASHINGTON — The intelligence community briefed President Trump twice in the eight days before he imposed travel restrictions on China in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus, said a senior White House official familiar with the briefings. In a Jan. 23 briefing, Trump was told the virus...
Antsy businesses, residents prep for Florida reopeningVideo
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Business owners across much of Florida were busy Sunday preparing to reopen under new restrictions. Restaurants spaced out tables six-feet apart and salon owners begged to be considered in Monday’s cautious, phase-one reopening. In downtown St. Petersburg, Ryan Pines shuffled chairs and hoisted bottles of disinfectant...
Report: China hid coronavirus’ severity to hoard suppliesVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials believe China covered up the extent of the coronavirus outbreak — and how contagious the disease is — to stock up on medical supplies needed to respond to it, intelligence documents show. Chinese leaders “intentionally concealed the severity” of the pandemic from the world in early...
For fourth straight day, Texas surpasses 1,000 new coronavirus casesVideo
AUSTIN — The number of new confirmed coronavirus cases in Texas surpassed 1,000 for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday and the number of deaths increased by at least 20. State health officials reported 31,548 confirmed cases, and increase from 30,522 reported Saturday, and 867 deaths due to covid-19, the...
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine: Face covering order ‘went too far,’ was reversedVideo
COLUMBUS — An order for people to wear face coverings while in stores was reversed last week because it “went too far,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Sunday. DeWine reversed the order Tuesday, saying many Ohioans saw it as “one government mandate too far” and saying face coverings were strongly...
Pa. among 6 states joining N.Y. to buy vital coronavirus gear in bulk
NEW YORK — New York is banding together with six nearby states, including Pennsylvania, to purchase equipment and supplies that sometimes have been hard to come by during the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is praising residents for mostly adhering...
FDA gives emergency OK to coronavirus antibody test with 100% accuracy claim
The Food and Drug Administration gave emergency approval to a coronavirus antibody test that has 100% accuracy, according to its Swiss manufacturer. According to drugmaker Roche, the antibody test has an incredible success rate when determining whether or not someone has been infected with coronavirus. The test was 100% accurate...
Pompeo: ‘Enormous evidence’ links virus to Wuhan lab, though it’s unlikely manmade
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said “enormous evidence” shows the novel coronavirus outbreak began in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, and Beijing has refused to give international scientists access to learn what happened. “I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this...
‘Virtual Senior Academy’ expands to connect more older adults during pandemic
Many older adults feel isolated and lonely — and not just during quarantine for a pandemic. But the past six weeks of social distancing and stay-at-home orders have removed more seniors from routine companionship. In response to the increased need, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation has ramped up its Virtual Senior...
Westmoreland County adds 5 new covid-19 cases
Westmoreland County’s covid-19 cases increased by five from Saturday to Sunday, bringing the total number of people who have tested positive for the virus to 401, state officials said. Nursing homes and other senior care facilities are linked to about 40% of the county’s cases. The state health department reported...
Pennsylvania reports 26 more covid-19 deaths as total cases top 49K
Pennsylvania health officials on Sunday reported 962 new cases of covid-19 and 26 more deaths, bringing the statewide death total to 2,444. As of Sunday, 49,267 Pennsylvanians had tested positive for covid-19, and 191,374 residents had tested negative, state officials said. All 67 counties in the state have cases of...
Allegheny County covid-19 cases rise by 12; no new deaths reported
There were no new deaths in Allegheny County from covid-19 since Saturday, but there were 12 additional cases, the Allegheny County Health Department reported Sunday morning. The number of people who have died from covid-19 remains at 102, the county health department said Sunday. Of that number, 92 are listed...
In a time of covid-19, ‘Obamacare’ still part of the action
WASHINGTON — Covid-19 could have stamped a person “uninsurable” if not for the Affordable Care Act. The ban on insurers using preexisting conditions to deny coverage is a key part of the Obama-era law that the Trump administration still seeks to overturn. Without the law, people who recovered from covid-19...
Pandemic cancels some National Nurses Week events, celebration takes new forms
The coronavirus pandemic and related social distancing rules have prompted Western Pennsylvania hospitals to cancel a slew of activities scheduled to begin this week to recognize nurses. Plans are still in the works, however, to celebrate the region’s thousands of nurses working on the front lines, hospital officials say. “This...
Maryland seeks probe of company that failed to deliver masks
BALTIMORE, Md. — Maryland officials are seeking an investigation into a politically connected company that contracted to provide the state with $12.5 million worth of personal protective equipment that never arrived. The Wall Street Journal reported that the state signed a deal on April 1 with Blue Flame Medical LLC...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Feeding bodies, souls in Pittsburgh
There are different types of hunger. Not knowing where your next meal is coming from is what we think of first, and there is a lot of that going on now. But it is just as important to feed the soul as it is to feed the body, and that’s...
Man arrested trying to quarantine on private Disney island
ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida deputies arrested a man who had been living out his quarantine on a shuttered Disney World island, telling authorities it felt like a “tropical paradise.” Orange County Sheriff’s deputies found Richard McGuire on Disney’s Discovery Island on Thursday. He said he’d been there since Monday or...
