Coronavirus category, Page 136
Westmoreland County adds 18 coronavirus cases, no new deaths
Westmoreland County added 18 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday after three straight days of single-digit cases. The new cases bring the county’s total to 1,837, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. There were no new deaths reported, leaving the county’s total at 49 where it’s remained since...
Allegheny County adds 68 coronavirus cases, 9 deaths
Allegheny County added 68 new coronavirus cases and nine deaths on Wednesday, according to the Allegheny County Health Department. The nine deaths are the highest single-day total since July 12 and the fifth-highest in the county since the virus was first detected locally in March. The new deaths range from...
Phyllis Chamberlain: We must protect renters, homeowners impacted by covid-19
The coronavirus pandemic has affected our daily lives in unanticipated ways, and our path to recovery won’t be short. Shortly after Gov. Tom Wolf announced he didn’t have the ability to extend eviction and foreclosure moratoriums, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order to halt the pending...
Health officials worry nation not ready for covid-19 vaccine
Millions of Americans are counting on a covid-19 vaccine to curb the global pandemic and return life to normal. While one or more options could be available toward the end of this year or early next, the path to delivering vaccines to 330 million people remains unclear for the local...
CDC directs halt to renter evictions to prevent virus spread
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has issued a directive halting the eviction of certain renters though the end of 2020 to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Federal, state and local governments have approved eviction moratoriums during the course of the pandemic for many renters, but those protections are...
Dr. Anthony Fauci swats conspiracy theory on CDC covid death dataVideo
White House coronavirus task force advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday debunked online theories retweeted by President Trump claiming that only 6% of covid-19 deaths are directly because of the virus. Trump retweeted a post from a user “Mel Q,” who is supposedly a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy movement,...
NYC delays start of school year to do more coronavirus safety prepVideo
NEW YORK — New York City postponed the start of its school year by several days to allow more preparation to reopen classrooms amid the coronavirus pandemic, announcing a delay Tuesday after teachers said they might OK a strike over the city’s drive to open schools. The change comes nine...
Pitt reports 35 new coronavirus cases in 3 days
The University of Pittsburgh saw a large increase in covid-19 cases last week, according to the most recent update to its covid-19 data dashboard. Since last week, the university recorded a total of 46 new cases among students — 35 of which were recorded just Friday through Sunday. There are...
After waffling, Gov. Tom Wolf says he can’t extend Pa.’s eviction ban, looks to lawmakers
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 weekly newsletter. HARRISBURG — First, he said he couldn’t. Then, he implied he wouldn’t. Then, he suggested he might. But on Tuesday,...
East End businesses create Pittsburgh survival kits of beer, coffee and more
Survival is a word that packs a lot of meaning in these covid-addled times. That notion is behind an initiative involving five small businesses in Pittsburgh’s East End: the East Enders’ “Survival Kits.” East End Brewing, Prohibition Pastries, Commonplace Coffee, Kelly’s Bar & Lounge and Barmy Soda Co. are providing...
Florida announces it will lift ban on nursing home visits
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he will lift the state’s ban on visiting nursing homes that has cut off vulnerable seniors from family since mid-March over fears of spreading the new coronavirus. With his voice cracking at times, he wondered aloud if his actions might have contributed to...
Monroeville urgent care center offers antigen covid test results in 20 minutes
Dr. John Kolonich of Monroeville thinks people need to be talking much more about covid-19 testing, and that those doing the testing should be talking much more to their patients. “No test is 100% sensitive,” said Kolonich, a physician with iCare Urgent Care on Route 22 in Monroeville. “I think...
Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh sues insurance carrier over covid-19 business losses
The Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, which operates the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, is suing its insurance carrier to recoup business losses caused by the covid-19 pandemic. The federal lawsuit, filed Monday against Federal Insurance Company, does not specify the financial loss other than saying it is...
Apple, Google build virus-tracing tech directly into phones
Apple and Google are trying to get more U.S. states to adopt their phone-based approach for tracing and curbing the spread of the coronavirus by building more of the necessary technology directly into phone software. That could make it much easier for people to get it on their phone even...
House panel warns of fraud, abuse in business aid program
WASHINGTON — Congressional investigators say they have identified lapses pointing to possible fraud and abuse in the Trump administration’s coronavirus relief program, including more than $1 billion awarded to small businesses that received multiple loans. A report issued Tuesday by a House subcommittee says a lack of government oversight and...
Pennsylvania’s new covid-19 cases, deaths both go up from recent figures
Pennsylvania has 770 new coronavirus cases reported Tuesday. The state Department of Health announced the new case increase, as well as 18 new covid-19 deaths in the state. New cases had decreased for two days after Saturday’s new case count of 843, before going up again Tuesday. There were only...
Westmoreland County sees 3rd straight day of single-digit new covid-19 cases
Westmoreland County has four new reported coronavirus cases, according to the state Department of Health. There has been single-digit new covid-19 cases reported in the past three days in the county, which hasn’t happened since a three-day span June 18-20. Total cases now stand at 1,819. Of the new cases,...
3rd virus vaccine reaches major hurdle: final U.S. testingVideo
A handful of the dozens of experimental covid-19 vaccines in human testing have reached the last and biggest hurdle — looking for the needed proof that they really work as a U.S. advisory panel suggested Tuesday a way to ration the first limited doses once a vaccine wins approval. AstraZeneca...
Hong Kong begins mass testing for virus amid public doubts
Hong Kong tested more than 120,000 people for the coronavirus Tuesday at the start of a mass-testing effort that’s become another political flash point in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Volunteers stood in lines at some of the more than 100 testing centers, though many residents are distrustful of the resources...
Allegheny County sees new covid-19 cases decrease for 2nd straight day
There were 29 new covid-19 cases reported in Allegheny County, according to the health department. Coronavirus-related deaths increased, as four new deaths were added after two straight days without any. New cases in the county, 27 of which are confirmed and two probable, come from 954 unique tests. The age...
The Friendship Circle in Pittsburgh is putting the face back in face masks
Face masks are tools proven to quell the spread of covid-19. But for those who rely on lip reading or have trouble observing social cues, traditional masks can also block their ability to communicate with others. At Squirrel Hill’s The Friendship Circle, breaking down barriers for the differently-abled is exactly...
NYC delays start of school year to allow more prep time
NEW YORK — New York City is delaying sending students back to classrooms by 11 days to give teachers more time to prepare, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday. The development comes after de Blasio emphasized for months that the city’s 1.1 million public school students need schools to resume...
GM, Ford complete U.S. contracts to build ventilators
DETROIT — General Motors says it has finished making 30,000 medical breathing machines for the U.S. government to help treat coronavirus patients. The Department of Health and Human Services contracted with GM to build the ventilators at a converted auto electronics plant in Kokomo, Indiana, at a cost of $489.4...
Pittsburgh Public School employees who distributed laptops showing covid-19 symptoms
Two Pittsburgh Public Schools employees from Montessori PreK-5 are experiencing covid-19 symptoms after participating in a technology distribution event at Montessori on Friday. The district said both employees were wearing personal protective equipment and abiding by social distancing guidelines during the distribution. Both employees have been tested and are awaiting...
Peters Township High School to temporarily close after positive covid-19 cases
Students at Peters Township High School will pivot to remote learning for at least the next four days, after discovering three possible cases of the coronavirus. Peters Township School District notified families via email that it learned of one case of covid-19 and two other cases presumed positive. “All three...
