Coronavirus category, Page 184
Eric Failing: Private schools should share in CARES Act funding, too
In late March, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In part, it calls for $13.2 billion to be provided for K-12 education across the country, with an estimated $523.8 million for Pennsylvania, according to the U.S. Department of Education. That money has been earmarked for...
Uncertain future rattles Italy’s famed restaurantsVideo
ROME — Italy’s restaurants and pizzerias, for foodies the world over a key reason to visit, are facing an existential threat. Those that didn’t fold after 10 weeks of a strict coronavirus lockdown are emerging to find that new social distancing requirements might yet drive them out of business. While...
As Pa. fairs are canceled, communities miss out on tradition, social engagement
Rural communities across Pennsylvania are feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic as local fairs, often social epicenters during the summer, are canceled in accordance with state regulations. So far, 16 of the 108 fairs across the state have been called off, said Sally Nolt, president of the Pennsylvania State...
Disney, Universal may require masks, but will tourists comply and how can it be enforced?
ORLANDO, Fla. — Quarantined alone for weeks, Kristen Hariton listens to Walt Disney World ride soundtracks while she works in her one-bedroom condo. Her music playlist is the best she can do right now since she has lost her happiest place on Earth. Hariton says she would do anything, including...
Mississippi governor pranked during graduation shout-outsVideo
Bart Simpson would be proud. Someone pranked Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves so smoothly that it has the rest of the nation — well, cracking up. The Republican governor was recognizing many of the state’s thousands of 2020 seniors who are missing out on a normal graduation due to the coronavirus....
U.S., China standoff ensnares WHO meeting on covid-19 fightVideo
GENEVA — Facing the most disruptive pandemic in generations, the technocratic halls of the World Health Organization are now the scene of pitched battles in an increasingly bitter proxy war between the China and the United States. At the U.N. health agency’s annual assembly this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping...
Outbreak on edge of Navajo Nation overwhelms rural hospitalVideo
GALLUP, N.M. — On the eve of New Mexico’s shutdown of bars and restaurants to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the city of Gallup came alive for one last night of revelry. Before the night was out in the desert oasis on the fringes of the Navajo Nation, 98...
Pennsylvania food distributors receive $50 million for food box program
State and local food distributors in Pennsylvania are receiving a big financial boost to get food boxes to families in need. Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday state distributors will get $50 million of the $1.2 billion in funding for the program. The money will pay for the purchase of surplus...
States accused of fudging or bungling covid-19 testing dataVideo
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — As large parts of the United States ease their lockdowns against coronavirus, public health officials in some states are being accused of bungling infection statistics or even deliberately using a little sleight of hand to make things look better than they are. The result is that politicians,...
Religious freedom bill proposed in Pennsylvania as churches navigate reopening
As some churches prepare to open, two Pennsylvania lawmakers want to prevent the state from restricting religious gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic or any future emergency. State Rep. Eric Nelson, R-Westmoreland, said religious leaders have been confused about whether churches are affected by state-mandated coronavirus shutdowns. “Our religious community is...
Maryland to expand coronavirus testing to people without symptomsVideo
ANNAPOLIS — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced new steps Tuesday to expand testing for the coronavirus, including appointment-free testing at new sites for those showing no symptoms and authorizing licensed pharmacists to administer tests. The governor said drive-thru, appointment-free testing will begin Thursday at the Timonium Fairgrounds in Baltimore County....
Christine Toretti: Blue-collar workers stepped up for us; let’s step up for them
Pennsylvania manufacturers helped save countless American lives during the coronavirus pandemic — the least we can do in return is to help protect their jobs in the upcoming presidential election. As the coronavirus outbreak spread throughout the world, many health care experts and journalists speculated that the U.S. would not...
Pa. Department of Health report sheds light on coronavirus impact in long-term care facilities
Brighton Rehab officials said early on in the pandemic they would operate under the assumption that all of the care home residents were positive for the coronavirus. That has nearly come to pass, data show: of the approximately 470 residents at the Beaver County facility, more than three-quarters of them...
My ‘decision to make’: Trump defends criticized use of malaria drugVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump emphatically defended himself Tuesday against criticism from medical experts that his announced use of a malaria drug against the coronavirus could spark wide misuse by Americans of the unproven treatment with potentially fatal side effects. Trump’s revelation a day earlier that he was taking hydroxychloroquine...
Turkey reports downward trend in virus deaths, infections
ISTANBUL — Turkey reported a continued downward trajectory in covid-19 deaths and confirmed infections Tuesday, with 28 new deaths and 1,022 infections over the past 24 hours. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted new figures showing a total of 4,199 deaths and 151,615 reported positive cases since March 11, when the...
Gov. Wolf on law allowing to-go cocktail sales: ‘I will sign it’
Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday he plans to sign legislation that would allow restaurants and bars to sell prepared beverages and mixed drinks and deliver them curbside. The governor noted it was overwhelmingly approved by the state House and Senate. Wolf did not indicate when he will sign the bill...
Pennsylvania to send property tax/rent rebate checks sooner because of pandemic
About 500,000 Pennsylvanians who benefit from the state’s property tax and rent rebate program will be receiving their checks six weeks earlier than usual, state officials announced Tuesday. The move will help some of the state’s most vulnerable residents during the coronavirus pandemic, state Treasurer Joe Torsella said. The rebates,...
610 new coronavirus cases, 119 additional deaths reported in Pa.
State health officials on Tuesday reported more than 100 new coronavirus deaths across Pennsylvania along with 610 new cases of the virus. The 119 newly reported deaths bring the statewide death toll to 4,624. The total number of cases across the state since March 6 now stands at 63,666. Those...
Allegheny County reports 1 new coronavirus death, 17 new cases
Allegheny County on Tuesday reported one new covid-19 death and 17 new cases. The latest figures bring the total number of deaths to 144 and total cases to 1,658. The total cases include 1,569 confirmed cases and 89 probable cases. Total hospitalizations rose by 10 since Monday, from 294 to...
Ray Werner: The Depression shaped my generation. But what legacy will we leave?
Like many of us out there, I’m worried about a new Great Depression. And like fewer of us, I was born in the last one — in 1938. My parents, Chuck and Pauline, met and married in 1926. They started their family a year later in Freedom, Beaver County, in...
Who got what? Details scant on small-business relief effortVideo
WASHINGTON — A small, overlooked federal agency is shouldering a massive relief effort for the nation’s small businesses and their workers left reeling by the pandemic. The Small Business Administration has committed to auditing every sizable emergency loan it approves. But six weeks after the $600 billion-plus program was launched,...
2 more state prison inmates, 1 staffer die of covid-19
Two more Pennsylvania state prison inmates and one prison employee have died from the coronavirus, according to data from the state Department of Corrections. The latest inmates to die from covid-19 were incarcerated at SCI-Huntingdon in Huntington County. The facility has seen 62 inmates test positive for the virus along...
Pandemic will alter Communion rituals for many U.S. ChristiansVideo
NEW YORK — Holy Communion will have a different look when in-person worship services resume at the end of May in the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville, Tenn: The wafers signifying the body of Christ will be placed in the hands of parishioners by priests and deacons wearing face masks and...
Company’s bumper tables help social distancing at restaurantsVideo
OCEAN CITY, Md. — A company in Baltimore has created bumper tables designed to allow people to practice social distancing while eating and talking in outdoor settings amid the coronavirus pandemic. The inflated tube tables created by Revolution Event Design & Production were debuted at Fish Tales, a restaurant in...
Trump points to good news as restaurant owners tell of fearsVideo
WASHINGTON — Restaurant owners gave President Donald Trump a sobering accounting of the widespread damage the coronavirus pandemic has dealt their industry and asked him to adjust a loan program for small businesses to address their concerns. The president put a hopeful spin on the situation, saying encouraging news on...
