Coronavirus category, Page 141
School districts tweak reopening plans again to require full-time mask use
Districts across the region once again are amending reopening plans after the state released additional guidance this week. Students attending in-person classes are now required to wear face coverings at all times while in school with few exceptions, according to the state education and health departments. The changes are based...
Penn-Trafford High School changes course, adopts hybrid reopening plan
Penn-Trafford School District has backed away from a planned full reopening next week, instead adopting a hybrid approach at the high school due to state coronavirus guidelines. High school students will be split into two groups — “green” and “gold,” according to Assistant Superintendent Scott Inglese. Each group will attend...
2 Pitt students test positive for covid-19
Two University of Pittsburgh students tested positive for covid-19 in the school’s first round of surveillance testing, according to data released by the university. The university had announced it would choose students at random to participate in the self-administered testing. In the first round of testing conducted Aug. 12-13 as...
Flu vaccines are important, safe in midst of pandemic, experts say
With flu season rapidly approaching and covid-19 still spreading, health experts say it’s imperative — and safe — to get a flu shot this year. Dr. Marc Itskowitz, an internal medicine physician with Allegheny Health Network, said he recommends the flu vaccine this and every year. “It gives the immune...
Pennsylvania adds 735 new coronavirus cases, 31 deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health added 735 coronavirus cases and 31 deaths on Tuesday. The counts come a day after the state reported its lowest number of new coronavirus cases in more than a month and no deaths Monday. Those figures were slightly skewed because data from Philadelphia County —...
13 new coronavirus cases reported in Westmoreland County
Westmoreland County saw 13 new cases of covid-19 added to its total Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported. The new cases make a total of 1,640 cases in the county since the virus was first reported there March 20. Of those cases, 1,591 are confirmed, 49 are considered probable....
Pennsylvania to launch ‘Covid Alert PA’ contact tracing appVideo
The Pennsylvania Department of Health will launch a mobile app in September that will use Bluetooth technology to assist state officials in contact tracing efforts, to curb the spread of covid-19. The state partnered with experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Pennsylvania and the developer NearForm...
Allegheny County posts lowest new covid case count since June
On Tuesday, Allegheny County continued its trend of lower daily covid-19 case numbers in August. The county Department of Health reported 45 new cases — the lowest number of new cases since June 25. In the month of August, the county has added 1,455 covid-19 cases, as compared to 3,365...
Polish health minister, key official in virus fight, resigns
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s health minister, a doctor who has been a leading figure in the government’s fight against the coronavirus, resigned Tuesday following questions about the procurement of questionable medical equipment. Dr. Lukasz Szumowski, a cardiologist, announced at a news conference in Warsaw that he was stepping down to...
As virus cases fall, South Africa allows liquor sales
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa, which had one of the world’s strictest anti-coronavirus lockdowns for five months, relaxed its restrictions Tuesday, permitting the sales of alcohol and cigarettes in response to decreasing new cases and hospitalizations for COVID-19. In a festive mood, people lined up at shops across the country wearing...
UNC-Chapel Hill moves all classes online after coronavirus outbreak on campus
North Carolina’s flagship university canceled in-person classes for undergraduates just a week into the fall semester Monday as the school and other campuses around the country scrambled to deal with coronavirus clusters linked in some cases to student housing, off-campus parties and packed bars. The University of North Carolina at...
Report: Nursing home cases up nearly 80% in covid-19 rebound
WASHINGTON — Covid-19 cases in U.S. nursing homes jumped nearly 80% earlier this summer, driven by rampant spread across the South and much of the West, according to an industry report released Monday. “The case numbers suggest the problem is far from solved,” said Tamara Konetzka, a research professor at...
Oklahoma State sorority isolated after 23 women test positive for covid-19
STILLWATER, Okla. — Women living at an off-campus sorority house at Oklahoma State University have been placed in isolation and are prohibited from leaving the house after 23 of them tested positive for covid-19, university officials confirmed on Monday. “Due to the nature of this situation, the entire chapter house...
Westmoreland County adds 7 new coronavirus cases
Westmoreland County saw seven new cases of coronavirus added to its totals on Monday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. It marks the fifth time in August the new case count was in the single digits. The county has seen 218 new covid cases this month, and a total...
Pennsylvania adds 2nd lowest new covid case count in 2 months
The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced its lowest number of new coronavirus cases in more than a month on Monday. The department added 384 new cases, the lowest since it posted 328 on July 13. It’s also only the second time since June 17 — exactly two months ago —...
Pennsylvania prepares to launch virus-tracing app next month
Pennsylvania plans to launch a coronavirus exposure-notification app in early September in an effort to more quickly break chains of transmission by using the new technology to notify people who may have been exposed, officials said Monday. The state has a $1.9 million contract to deploy and maintain the app...
Allegheny County posts lower new covid case count for 4th straight day
For the fourth straight day, the Allegheny County Health Department posted a lower new covid-19 case count. The county added 71 new cases on Monday, making it the third consecutive day the number was in the 70s. The results come from 944 tests administered from Aug. 11-16. All of the...
Politics slows flow of U.S. virus funds to local public health
As the novel coronavirus began to spread through Minneapolis this spring, Health Commissioner Gretchen Musicant tore up her budget to find funds to combat the crisis. Money for test kits. Money to administer tests. Money to hire contact tracers. And yet even more money for a service that helps tracers...
Virus pandemic reshaping air travel as carriers struggle
In a bid to survive, airlines are desperately trying to convince a wary public that measures like mandatory face masks and hospital-grade air filters make sitting in a plane safer than many other indoor settings during the coronavirus pandemic. It isn’t working. Surveys indicate that instead of growing comfortable with...
Another covid-19 cluster reported in UNC-Chapel Hill housing
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Another cluster of positive covid-19 cases within student housing was announced Sunday at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The disclosure of cases within the Hinton James dormitory building marks the fourth such cluster — defined as five or more cases in close proximity...
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp allows local mask mandates, with limits
ATLANTA — Georgia’s governor, who has opposed local mask mandates and even sued over one in Atlanta, has signed a new executive order that allows local governments to enact mask requirements to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. As with previous orders, the one issued Saturday says residents and visitors of...
11 new coronavirus cases reported in Westmoreland County – Aug. 16, 2020
Westmoreland County saw 11 new cases of covid-19 added to its total Sunday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported. The new cases make a total of 1,620 cases in the county since the virus was first reported there March 20. Of those cases, 1,575 are confirmed, 48 are considered probable....
Pennsylvania reports 660 new coronavirus cases, 3 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Sunday reported 660 new coronavirus cases and three additional deaths. The new data brings the total cases to 124,460. Officials said of those, 3,474 are considered probable cases. The seven-day average of cases is 801. The total number of covid-19 deaths in Pennsylvania now stands at 7,468. The...
Allegheny County reports 74 new coronavirus cases, 4 new deaths
Allegheny County on Sunday recorded 74 new coronavirus cases and four additional deaths. The county now has a total of 9,433 cases of covid-19 and 288 deaths. New cases in the county range in age from 2 to 96 years with a median age of 38 years. The tests were...
Taller cubicles, one-way aisles: Office workers must adjust
NEW YORK — Bergmeyer, a design firm in Boston, has erected higher cubicles, told employees to wear masks when not at their desks and set up one-way aisles in the office that force people to walk the long way around to get to the kitchen or the bathroom. “The one-way...
