Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1506
Westmoreland County under stay-at-home order as confirmed coronavirus cases grow
Westmoreland County residents have been ordered to stay at home. Gov. Tom Wolf announced an additional nine Pennsylvania counties will be under restrictions as part of the state’s efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The new order, which is in effect from 8 p.m. Friday through April 6,...
Western Pa. health systems provide masks to staff to combat covid-19 spread
Health care systems in Western Pennsylvania are working to equip all employees in clinical areas of its hospitals with protective masks. UPMC said it is also providing masks to staff and visitors to hospitals after they pass a screening test. Westmoreland County-based Excela Health, which has hospitals Greensburg, Latrobe and...
Pennsylvania reports 531 new coronavirus cases as total tops 2,000Video
Coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania rose by more than 500 from Thursday to Friday, bringing the total statewide to more than 2,000. The state Department of Health reported 531 new positive tests, the second day in a row in which new cases topped 500. The total stands at 2,218. That total...
UPMC experts on coronavirus: ‘We are prepared for a surge we hope never arrives’
Experts at UPMC said Friday they believe community spread of the coronavirus might be less intense locally than in other parts of the country. Dr. Graham Snyder, chief of infection prevention, said that out of 1,743 covid-19 tests done by UPMC facilities, 141 have been positive — about 8%. He...
Allegheny County adds 25 coronavirus cases, total reaches 158
Allegheny County reported 25 additional active cases of the coronavirus Friday, bringing the total to 158. That’s compared to the one-day increase recorded from Wednesday to Thursday, when the county reported 45 new cases. That total does not include two Allegheny County residents who have died from complications from covid-19....
Pittsburgh region population slide continues, led by losses in Westmoreland County
The Pittsburgh region continues to lose residents, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Population estimates for Westmoreland County once again show a downward trend, something local officials have been combating for at least a decade. The county’s population declined by 16,172 between 2010-20, the largest loss of...
Family safe after fire tears through house in PlumVideo
Monica Hanner had lived in her home in Plum’s Kellywood Estates for 11 years, but she didn’t really know her neighbors. And some of her neighbors said they didn’t really know her. That didn’t stop them from offering their help after Hanner’s Emerald Drive home was severely damaged, if not...
British Prime Minister Johnson tests positive for virusVideo
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the first leader of a major nation to contract covid-19, but he insisted Friday that he remains in charge of the United Kingdom’s response to the outbreak. Johnson, 55, said he was tested Thursday on the...
House passes $2.2T rescue package, rushes it to TrumpVideo
WASHINGTON — Acting with unity and resolve unseen since the 9/11 attacks, the House of Representatives gave near-unanimous approval Friday to historic legislation designed to prevent the economy from collapsing and rush resources to overburdened health care providers and struggling families during the deepening coronavirus epidemic. The unprecedented $2.2 trillion...
Pennsylvania now leaves it up to those with covid-19 to warn others about exposure
An auto parts store in New Kensington. A Derry Township skilled nursing center. Colleges from Greensburg to Pittsburgh. All have reported positive coronavirus tests in recent days. And all are on their own to let others know about potential exposure. State officials no longer perform that service. The Pennsylvania Department...
Monroeville lab looks to help fill gap in covid-19 testingVideo
A Monroeville lab that handles molecular and genetic testing has ramped up to offer testing for covid-19, beginning with senior citizens and staff working at care facilities it services. MHS Labs began testing patient samples on Thursday and had completed a few dozen tests by midday Friday, said Sean Waters,...
Port Authority bus driver tests positive for covid-19
Port Authority of Allegheny County officials said Thursday that one of their bus drivers tested positive for covid-19. The driver is under medical supervision and was exposed to the coronavirus outside of work, according to Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph. He said the authority followed all of the protocols recommended...
Allegheny County judge details how to pay child support, handle custody and district judge’s matters
Allegheny County’s residents with legal proceedings while the courts are closed were given additional guidance Thursday on how to do business when the county courtrooms are closed during the coronavirus pandemic. President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark amended her March 16 order shutting down the courtrooms and district judges offices, to...
17 Pittsburgh first responders in quarantine or isolation; none have tested positive for covid-19
A total of 17 Pittsburgh first responders — including two medics and 15 firefighters — are staying home in quarantine or isolation after learning they could have been exposed to covid-19, officials said. None have tested positive for covid-19, the highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, or...
Greensburg lender aids shutdown-battered borrowers; delays April payment
A Greensburg-based small business commercial lender has decided to forgo collecting payments from its borrowers in April to give them a break during the economic downturn caused by the shutdown over the spread of the coronavirus. The Progress Fund, a nonprofit community development financial institution, is giving all of its...
Pa. state universities anticipate up to $100M loss from providing students refunds for room and board
Pennsylvania’s 14 state universities are facing a severe financial hit because they won’t resume in-person classes for the last half of the spring semester because of the coronavirus. The State System of Higher Education is projecting a loss of $100 million in total for the universities, due to refunding tens...
State Health Department reverses order shutting down dentists during covid-19 crisis
Pennsylvanians facing dental emergencies can once again see their dentists or an oral surgeon. After consulting with leaders in organized dentistry, the Pennsylvania State Department of Health has reversed its decision ordering all dental offices to stop performing emergency procedure during the covid-19 crisis. “These updated guidelines are effective immediately,”...
U.S. leads world in confirmed coronavirus cases
NEW YORK — The number of people around the world who have contracted the coronavirus has surged past 535,000, and the United States tops the list, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally. U.S. deaths have now topped 1,200, in another grim update for a global outbreak that has wreaked...
Tractor-trailer catches fire, snarls traffic on I-79 southbound near Wexford exit
A tractor-trailer caught fire on Interstate 79 late afternoon Thursday, snarling traffic for more than an hour, initial reports indicated. Emergency dispatchers sent firefighters to the site of the incident on I-79 at Mingo Road in Marshall Township shortly before 5 p.m., an Allegheny County 911 shift commander said. There...
Army Corps looks at Western Pa. sites for possible overflow medical facilities
The Army Corps of Engineers’ Pittsburgh District has begun evaluating possible alternate medical sites that would be used in the event hospitals are overrun treating patients with covid-19. The number of covid-19 cases in Western Pennsylvania has not stretched medical systems to the point where more space is needed to...
Officials: Over 1,600 Allegheny County residents tested for coronavirus
There have been 1,614 covid-19 tests performed on Allegheny County residents to date, with the bulk of those tests performed during the past week, according to figures released by the Allegheny County Health Department on Thursday. That figure includes testing performed by health care providers, as well as community testing...
Deceased man found along trail in Youngwood
State police are investigating the discovery of a man’s body along the Five Star Trail behind the Shop ‘n Save supermarket in Youngwood Thursday afternoon. The man was discovered at about 3 p.m., and the Westmoreland County Coroner’s office was called to the scene, according to a Westmoreland County Department...
Greensburg to ratify coronavirus state of emergency already in effect
Greensburg council will meet Friday to make the city’s coronavirus emergency declaration official. Mayor Robert Bell declared a state of emergency last week, but council is required by law to vote to ratify the declaration. Bell said Friday’s 10 a.m. meeting is expected to be brief. The emergency declaration is...
Need work? Here are companies that are hiring during coronavirus pandemic
There are still some businesses hiring as the covid-19 pandemic continues to devastate the labor market. Foremost are retail jobs like those at Giant Eagle. The O’Hara-based grocery chain has been busy and it is working to offer temporary jobs to those who have been impacted by the shutdown. Giant...
Westmoreland prepares to lay off hundreds of county workers
About 500 nonessential Westmoreland County government employees will be furloughed on April 3, county commissioners said Thursday. The layoffs come as county officials deal with balancing vital government functions during the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing budgetary concerns complicated by large overtime payments doled out to essential employees who were required...
