Coronavirus category, Page 109
Penn State students leave campus on Friday; some decline free coronavirus tests
Penn State University will close all of its schools to in-person instruction after Friday, and students at its Upper Burrell campus are rolling with those changes. Penn State has been offering in-person and virtual classes since the beginning of the fall semester. However, the rising number of coronavirus cases caused...
As deaths spiral, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem opposes mask rulesVideo
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Monday showed no sign of budging from her hands-off approach to the pandemic, despite finding herself among a dwindling number of Midwest governors holding out against mask mandates and facing a death rate in her state that has risen to...
Feds reject Pa.’s plan to spend up to $300M in stimulus money for property tax relief
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 newsletters. HARRISBURG — For more than a decade, state lawmakers have sent yearly payments to Pennsylvania’s school districts so they can lower...
Bridgeville Rehabilitation and Care Center reports sharp rise in covid-19 cases, 2 deaths
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 12:23 Nov. 17 with the latest numbers from Bridgeville Rehabilitation and Care Center. A long-term care facility in South Fayette has seen a substantial increase in covid-19 cases among staff and residents since Nov. 4. Bridgeville Rehabilitation and Care Center reported Tuesday that...
Westmoreland County back in ‘substantial’ virus risk category as cases skyrocket statewide
Last week it appeared Westmoreland County’s coronavirus surge might by on the decline, with its transmission risk dropping just under the threshold that divide a “substantial” risk from a “moderate” one on the state’s Early Warning Monitoring System. That appearance was an illusion. Cases again spiked, and the previous week’s...
California dramatically rolls back reopenings amid unprecedented covid-19 surge
LOS ANGELES — Faced with a skyrocketing number of new coronavirus cases, California officials pulled what they characterized as an emergency brake, announcing that much of the state will move back into more restrictive reopening tiers. Once the changes go into effect Tuesday, roughly 94% of Californians will live in...
Pittsburgh doctor: Moderna vaccine may have logistical advantage over Pfizer’sVideo
With the alarming rise of covid-19 cases in Allegheny County and throughout Pennsylvania comes the good news surrounding another vaccine. Moderna said Monday its experimental vaccine is 94.5% effective at preventing illness, according to preliminary data from the company’s still ongoing study. Last week Pfizer Inc. announced its own covid-19...
Philadelphia bans indoor gatherings, broadens coronavirus rules
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia is banning indoor dining at restaurants and indoor gatherings of any size, public or private, as the city battles a resurgence of the coronavirus, officials announced Monday. The city also plans to shutter gyms, museums and libraries, prohibit in-person instruction at colleges and high schools, and reduce...
Levine plans no new Pennsylvania restrictions as covid cases continue to rise
Covid-19 cases continue to rise along with the percentage of people who are testing positive for the virus, but Pennsylvania’s top health official said Monday there are no plans to put harsher restrictions in place again. “We have no plans to go back to red-yellow-green or any type of scheme...
Pennsylvania adds 9,675 new covid cases in 2 days, 51 new deaths
Pennsylvania added more than 9,600 new cases of coronavirus in the past two days, according the state’s Department of Health. There were 5,199 cases added on Sunday and another 4,476 added Monday. Of Sunday’s cases, 4,821 were confirmed; of Monday’s, 4,152 were confirmed. Among Monday’s new cases, 20.7% of those...
Westmoreland County adds 354 covid cases in 2 days, 3 deaths
Over the past two days, Westmoreland County added 354 new covid-19 cases, according to Monday’s update from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The county added 187 cases Sunday and 167 on Monday. Of those, 149 and 132 were confirmed through PCR tests, respectively. On Monday, Westmoreland posted the sixth highest...
Allegheny County adds 500 new covid cases, 1 new death
A day after posting a record number of new covid-19 cases Sunday, Allegheny County added another 500 new covid cases Monday. The county’s health department reported 450 of the new cases were confirmed through 2,397 PCR tests conducted from Nov. 9-15 — a 18.8% positive new-PCR-test rate. In the state,...
Michigan governor says she has authority for stay-home order
LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Monday she has the authority to issue a second stay-at-home order to curb the spiking coronavirus if necessary and called a comment by an adviser to President Donald Trump urging people to “rise up” against Michigan’s latest restrictions “incredibly reckless.” The Democratic governor...
Moderna coronavirus vaccine appears 95% effective in early U.S. tests
For the second time this month, there’s promising news from a covid-19 vaccine candidate: Moderna said Monday its shots provide strong protection, a dash of hope against the grim backdrop of coronavirus surges in the U.S. and around the world. Moderna said its vaccine appears to be 94.5% effective, according...
Joe Welch: Teachers resolve to do best for students
“Character is who you are when nobody else is watching.” A middle-school English teacher introduced this phrase to me. We recited it each day in class, and it is a lesson that I have carried with me throughout my life and into my teaching career. Now, in 2020, I think...
Michigan halts high school classes, indoor restaurant diningVideo
LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration on Sunday ordered high schools and colleges to stop in-person classes, closed restaurants to indoor dining and stopped organized sports — including the football playoffs — in a bid to curb Michigan’s spiking coronavirus cases. The restrictions will begin Wednesday and last three...
Allegheny County reports ‘beyond concerning’ record 527 new coronavirus cases
Allegheny County added a record 527 new coronavirus cases to its total on Sunday, shattering the previous high by more than 100. The new cases bring the county’s total to 20,026, becoming the second county in the state with more than 20,000. (Philadelphia has the most with 48,817 and surpassed...
Biden team to meet with pharma companies soon on coronavirus fight
President-elect Joe Biden’s team will begin meeting with Pfizer Inc. and other pharmaceutical companies within days as they continue the transition to a new administration amid the escalating coronavirus pandemic, his chief of staff said Sunday. “We’re going to have meetings between our top scientific advisers and the officials of...
Time to discuss potentially unpleasant side effects of covid-19 shots? Scientists say yes
Drugmaker Pfizer is expected to seek federal permission to release its covid-19 vaccine by the end of November, a move that holds promise for quelling the pandemic, but also sets up a tight time frame for making sure consumers understand what it will mean to actually get the shots. This...
Poll workers contract virus, but Election Day link unclear
Despite painstaking efforts to keep election sites safe, some poll workers who came in contact with voters on Election Day have tested positive for the coronavirus, including more than two dozen in Missouri and cases in New York, Iowa, Indiana and Virginia. The infections cannot be tied definitively to polling...
North Dakota nurses worry about working with sick colleagues
BISMARCK, N.D. — Like many medical workers around the world, the coronavirus pandemic is a burden that Fargo emergency room nurse Adam Johnston can’t escape. The grim reality follows him everywhere: at work, where people die every shift; at the grocery store, where people rail against his city’s mask requirement;...
Dr. David Dausey: What to do about Thanksgiving
We are now eight months into the covid-19 pandemic with little end in sight other than the promise of a vaccine ready for mass distribution sometime in the new year. This means that most Americans will need to make critical decisions about what to do for the upcoming holiday season...
Allegheny County reports 370 new coronavirus cases
Allegheny County on Saturday recorded 370 new coronavirus cases, an eight-case reduction from the day before, but still the third-highest single-day amount for the county. Officials reported a single-day high of 412 cases on Wednesday. No new deaths were reported, leaving the county’s toll at 458. There were 11 deaths...
Pennsylvania reports 5th consecutive day of record-setting coronavirus cases
Pennsylvania on Saturday reported 5,551 new coronavirus cases — breaking Friday’s record by 20 cases. It marked the fifth-straight record-setting day for the Keystone State. The state also reported 50 new deaths. The total number of covid-19 deaths in Pennsylvania is 9,274. The new data bring the total cases to...
Westmoreland County posts 155 new coronavirus cases, 2 deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported 155 new cases of coronavirus in Westmoreland County. Of the new covid-19 cases, 97 are confirmed and 58 are probable. Saturday’s addition puts the seven-day average at 134 cases; the county reported 119 cases on Friday. The high of the week was...
