Coronavirus category, Page 119
As virus flares globally, new strategies target hot spots
NEW YORK — After entire nations were shut down during the first surge of the coronavirus earlier this year, some countries and U.S. states are trying more targeted measures as cases rise again around the world, especially in Europe and the Americas. New York’s new round of virus shutdowns zeroes...
Hempfield Area High School to remain closed early this week
Hempfield Area High School will remain closed early this week after two more students tested positive for covid-19, officials said. Students who were originally scheduled to return to in-person classes Monday following a five day closure after three students tested positive for the virus last week will now continue with...
Twitter blocks tweet of Trump coronavirus adviser who undermined importance of mask usage during pandemicVideo
Scott Atlas, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, was flagged by Twitter for a tweet that violated the social media site’s “misleading information” policy, a spokesperson confirmed Sunday to the New York Daily News. “Masks work? NO,” Atlas, one of President Donald Trump’s closest medical advisers, tweeted...
Sheldon Jacobson: If playing Big Ten football makes good ‘cents,’ then not playing other sports makes no sense
It took a month, but the Big Ten finally realized the error of its ways and announced that fall football is back on. Next weekend, the Big Ten will join the ACC, SEC and Big 12 among the power conferences who looked at the full gamut of risks and rewards...
Millions more virus rapid tests but are results reported?
WASHINGTON — After struggling to ramp up coronavirus testing, the U.S. can now screen several million people daily, thanks to a growing supply of rapid tests. But the boom comes with a new challenge: keeping track of the results. All U.S. testing sites are legally required to report their results,...
Pennsylvania nursing homes brace for more covid outbreaks amid supply shortages
As Pennsylvania’s public health chief warns of a second wave of covid-19 community spread, nursing homes are bracing for a potential correlative wave of nursing home outbreaks and deaths. Nursing home operators and staff are looking for more protective gear, help with testing and other aid to ensure the next...
Westmoreland County reports 3rd-straight day of triple-digit coronavirus cases
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported a third consecutive day of triple-digit covid-19 cases after reporting 102 to Westmoreland County. Saturday’s addition puts the three-day total at 359 cases; the county reported 148 and 109 cases on Thursday and Friday, respectively. Three additional deaths were reported, lifting the...
Pennsylvania reports 2nd-highest covid-19 case count
Pennsylvania on Saturday reported 1,857 new coronavirus cases — a staggering 291-case jump from yesterday’s 1,566 — and the second-highest single-day total the state has ever reported. The all-time high for the Keystone State has stood since April 9, when 1,989 cases were reported. The state Department of Health reported...
Allegheny County reports 138 coronavirus cases, 2 deaths
Allegheny County on Saturday recorded 138 new coronavirus cases and two new deaths. The additional deaths bring the county total to 405. The county now has accumulated 13,959 cases of covid-19, according to data from the Allegheny County Health Department. Of the new cases, 113 are confirmed, while 25 are...
Colin McNickle: How dire the straits at Pittsburgh International?
The coronavirus pandemic and state-ordered restrictions on travel-related industries resulted in massive declines in passenger counts at the nation’s airports during the March-through-June period. “Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) was no exception,” say Frank Gamrat, executive director of the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, and Jake Haulk, the president-emeritus of the...
Pa. health departments expands covid testing sites through faith-based organizations
The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced Friday an aggressive plan to deal with disproportionately higher rates of covid-19 in African American communities. In order to reduce the spread of the virus in areas where people have a greater chance of contracting it, beginning Saturday testing sites will be opened in...
Pitt relaxing some pandemic restrictions on Monday
Some covid-19 mitigation strategies at the University of Pittsburgh will loosen Monday, as the Pittsburgh campus moves into a “guarded” risk posture. Up to this point, Pitt has been in “elevated” risk posture, which calls for most classes to be held remotely, limits gatherings to 25 people and other restrictions....
South Butler school staffer positive for covid-19; classes resume as planned
An educator who works with children at two South Butler public schools has tested positive for covid-19, the district reports. The district learned of the employee’s test results late Thursday afternoon, according to Superintendent David Foley. The person now isolating at home rotates between South Butler Primary School and South...
Unemployment rate in Pa. drops to 8.1%, but economists remain wary
The state Department of Labor & Industry reported Friday that Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.1% in September, down 2.3 percentage points from August. The current figure is nearly double the unemployment rate of September 2019, which was 4.6%. Still, Chris Briem, a regional economist at the University of Pittsburgh...
Robert Lysek: Schools should work together to solve covid-19 problems
When the pandemic upended our lives, it was common to hear “We are all in this together.” It was an attempt to acknowledge that things may be different, but we can work together to find the answers. Public charter schools rose to that challenge. Charter schools quickly adapted innovative solutions...
Westmoreland County reports triple-digit covid-19 cases for 2nd day
Westmoreland County on Friday reported 109 new cases of covid-19 after the previous day’s record high of 148. The county’s 7-day average is at a high of 90 cases. The 7-day total of 630 cases is also a record since the coronavirus outbreak began in March. One new death was...
Allegheny County reports 149 new cases of covid-19
Allegheny County on Friday reported 149 new cases of coronavirus. Of those, 107 cases are confirmed from 1,385 PCR tests. The remaining 42 are listed as probable, with 28 of those resulting from positive antigen tests. The county has a total of 13,821 cases since the pandemic began in March,...
Virus at ‘turning point’ in Europe, hitting at-risk groups
MILAN — Doctors are warning that Europe is at a turning point as the coronavirus surges back across the continent, including among vulnerable people, and governments try to impose restrictions without locking whole economies down. With newly confirmed cases reaching records, the Czech Republic has shut schools and is building...
WHO: Study finds 4 drugs have little to no effect on covid
GENEVA — The U.N. health agency says the world’s largest randomized trial of covid-19 treatments found “conclusive evidence” that remdesivir, a drug used to treat U.S. President Donald Trump when he fell ill, has little or no effect on severe cases. The World Health Organization announced Friday the long-awaited results...
U.S. testing 3 drugs to tamp down coronavirus
WASHINGTON — U.S. government officials are launching a new study testing three drugs to tamp down an overactive response by the immune system that can cause severe illness or death in people with covid-19. The U.S. National Institutes of Health says the study will enroll 2,100 hospitalized adults with moderate...
Pennsylvania reports 1,566 new covid-19 cases, 25 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Friday reported 1,566 new cases of covid-19 and added 25 new deaths to its total. The cases are from a batch of 15,413 new test results, with 13,847 of those being negative. The state’s daily positivity rate is 10.16%, the highest it has been since May. The new...
Chris Christie says he was wrong not to wear mask in White House
WASHINGTON — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday that he was wrong not to wear a mask at the White House, after he and President Donald Trump both came down with the coronavirus. Christie, in a statement, said he has recovered from covid-19 after a week-long stay in...
2 more coronavirus-related deaths reported at Westmoreland Manor
Westmoreland officials said Thursday that two more residents at the county-owned nursing home died from complications of coronavirus. A total of five Westmoreland Manor residents have now died after contracting the virus since the start of the outbreak last month at the 408-bed Hempfield facility. Since mid-September, 117 residents and...
Greensburg City Hall closed this week due to suspected coronavirus case
Greensburg City Hall is closed this week due to a suspected coronavirus infection of a city employee, Councilman Randy Finfrock said. “Just as an abundance of caution we’re deep cleaning City Hall, and we’ll be back in business Monday,” he said. Officials closed the building Tuesday afternoon. A city employee...
Matthew Galluzzo: As life moves outdoors during covid-19, lean on Pa.’s special strength
Earlier this summer, The New York Times explored a fascinating chapter in American history. In 1907, at the height of the tuberculosis epidemic, doctors and educators tasked with preventing the spread of the disease in schoolchildren experimented by opening wide schools’ classroom windows. In some instances, they moved classes outdoors...
