Covid-19 dominates news as region struggles, changes, fights back

Covid-19 continued to dominate the news, and lives, of everyone in Western Pennsylvania this week, as the closure of schools and businesses was extended indefinitely and all state residents were ordered to stay home.

Everyone was adapting to the new normal, including a nearly 100-year-old Latrobe woman who found herself a viral sensation for her baking, while researchers at the University of Pittsburgh became heroes for their work toward finding a vaccine.

News highlights for the week of March 30:

University of Pittsburgh scientists develop possible covid-19 vaccine

A potential vaccine against the novel coronavirus causing the covid-19 outbreak was created in a University of Pittsburgh lab.

Researchers say the first phase of human clinical trials — which would include healthy volunteers in the Pittsburgh area — could start in the coming months.

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine announced Thursday that the vaccine, when tested in mice, produces antibodies specific to the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that could be enough to fight off the virus. Testing the vaccine in mice doesn’t guarantee efficacy in humans.

Wolf closes schools, businesses indefinitely

This was the week that efforts to slow the spread of covid-19 touched all parts of the state.

Gov. Tom Wolf first extended closures of schools and businesses indefinitely. Rather than extending it for two weeks at a time, Wolf said schools and businesses would stay closed “as long as we need to keep them closed to keep Pennsylvania safe. Right now, it isn’t safe.”

Two days later, Wolf expanded a stay-at-home order from 33 of of the state’s 67 counties to the entire state, meaning all residents must stay home unless they absolutely must go out.

The order is in place until at least April 30.

97-year-old Latrobe woman’s baking sessions go viral

At 97 years young, Latrobe’s Lucy Pollock has become a streaming sensation with her online baking lessons.

Mary Ellen Raneri of Latrobe took up a friend’s suggestion that she share her mother’s baking expertise online.

Pollock first walked her audience through making Easter buns, with Raneri helping. It proved so popular that the pair returned to Facebook to make nut rolls.

They’ll be back in the kitchen on Sunday making wedding ring cookies on Pollock’s new Facebook page, “Baking With Lucy.” On Friday, the page had nearly 10,000 likes and almost 11,000 followers.

Allegheny County releases more than 600 from jail

Officials released 622 inmates from the Allegheny County Jail over the past two weeks to slow the spread of coronavirus by reducing crowding in the jail.

That’s more than triple the 189 inmates that were slated for release March 19, and about a quarter of the jail’s inmate population prior to their release. There were 1,816 people who remained incarcerated in the jail as of Tuesday.

The decisions on who to release are made by numerous members of the criminal justice system, including judges, public defenders, the District Attorney’s Office, and probation and jail officials, according to the county.

ATI cites tariffs in closing Beaver County plant

Allegheny Technologies Inc. announced it will close its Beaver County stainless steel plant in June, citing the Trump administration’s steel tariffs as the reason.

The A&T Stainless Direct Roll Anneal and Pickle operation in Midland employs about 70 workers, most of whom are represented by United Steelworkers.

A&T Stainless is co-owned by ATI and the China-based Tsingshan Group. The plant imports stainless steel slabs from Indonesia, turning them into stainless steel sheets.

It has paid $37 million in tariffs in the past two years, since the Trump administration levied a 25% tariff on imported steel products, according to the company.