Coronavirus category, Page 220
Pennsylvania sportsbooks lose millions, online casinos thrive during coronavirus pandemic
With pro and college sports shut down for most of March due to the covid-19 crisis, Pennsylvania’s retail and online sportsbooks took a big hit in monthly revenue. But online casinos and poker exploded to a new record. Coronavirus shutdowns cost sportsbooks $220 million in wagers during March, according to...
Pitt researchers join American Lung Association’s national research network
The University of Pittsburgh’s Emphysema COPD Research Center will participate in two new national lung health studies, including one that focuses on covid-19, as it partners with the American Lung Association’s Airways Clinical Research Centers Network (ACRC). Long on the forefront of research in asthma and COPD, the network includes...
Pittsburgh food bank hosting another drive-up distribution in Duquesne
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank will hold another drive-up distribution at its Duquesne headquarters Monday. The distribution, which runs from noon to 3 p.m., will be able to accommodate up to 1,000 vehicles. Each vehicle will receive two boxes. The food bank is asking attendees to begin lining up no...
TribLIVE readers say Pennsylvania has overstepped with mask mandate
Many do not agree with Pennsylvania’s order about wearing masks in stores that remain open. In an unscientific TribLIVE.com poll about Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine’s order that essential businesses provide masks for employees and turn away customers who do not have a mask, about 60% of respondents believe...
Relief checks are a lifeline for some, a cushion for others
Millions of Americans received government relief checks this week, and more are on the way. For some, the payment gets them to a more comfortable place financially; for others, the money just gets them to next month. Bridget Hughes, a mother of three, received a $2,200 stimulus check this week...
Africa could see 300,000 coronavirus deaths this year
JOHANNESBURG — Africa could see 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus even under the best-case scenario, according to a new report released Friday that cites modeling from Imperial College London. Under the worst-case scenario with no interventions against the virus, Africa could see 3.3 million deaths and 1.2 billion infections, the...
China’s virus death toll revised up sharply after reviewVideo
BEIJING — China’s official death toll from the coronavirus pandemic jumped sharply Friday as the hardest-hit city of Wuhan announced a major revision that added nearly 1,300 fatalities. The new figures resulted from an in-depth review of deaths during a response that was chaotic in the early days. They raised...
Howard Hanna offers pandemic-impacted agents advance pay on future earnings
Getting paid based on commission rather than salary, whether it is selling cars, insurance, or houses, can be tough — especially when the state closes a worker’s business as part of a sweeping effort to stop the spread of coronavirus. Howard Hanna Real Estate Service, the largest real estate firm...
Pro-Trump protesters push back on stay-at-home orders
While many Americans are filled with fear, Melissa Ackison says the coronavirus pandemic has filled her with anger. The stay-at home orders are government overreach, the conservative Ohio state Senate candidate says, and the labeling of some workers as “essential” arbitrary. “It enrages something inside of you,” said Ackison, who...
7 Midwest states to partner on reopening the economyVideo
LANSING, Mich. — Seven Midwestern governors announced Thursday that they will coordinate on reopening their state economies amid the coronavirus pandemic, after similar pacts were made in the Northeast and on the West Coast. The latest agreement includes Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Kentucky. “We look forward to...
Feds OK boost for some food stamp recipients, deny Pa.’s request for broader increase
Federal officials green-lighted Pennsylvania’s request to boost the payments for some food stamp recipients — but rejected the state’s attempt to send extra money to all of them. The state Department of Human Services received approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service to issue a limited...
Gov. Wolf: No specific date for ending covid-19 shutdown, getting ‘back to life as we once knew it’
Gov. Tom Wolf said Thursday he has not yet decided precisely when to end Pennsylvania’s pandemic-spurred lockdown, and he warned that a persisting shortage of testing capacity remains a major hindrance to doing so. ”I have been considering when we end this phase from the time I put it into...
Should government track covid-19 patients by phone? Many Americans say yes, poll saysVideo
Over half of Americans think it’s acceptable for the government to track the cell phones of people with coronavirus, according to a new poll. The poll found 52% of the U.S. says it’s “somewhat acceptable” for government to track the phones of people who’ve tested positive for covid-19 to better...
Hospitals looking for more help; lawmakers say Pennsylvania shorted on CARES Act relief
Hospitals across the region that are looking to recover revenue they lost while preparing to meet a surge in covid-19 cases say they need more help and are seeking a more equitable piece of the pie as the federal government rolls out the remaining $70 billion of a $100 billion...
Agent: NFL star Von Miller has COVID-19, is in good spiritsVideo
Von Miller has the coronavirus, and the NFL star wanted to come forward with his diagnosis to show people how serious the disease is. “Von wants to let everyone out there know it’s serious; it doesn’t just happen to old people in nursing homes,” agent Joby Branion told the Associated...
Ohio governor says some businesses may reopen after May 1Video
COLUMBUS — Some Ohio businesses could begin reopening after May 1 as long as proper precautions are taken amid the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday as he provided the first concrete timeline for a return to normal conditions after weeks of uncertainty, fear and economic hardship. The Republican...
Beaver County officials frustrated over tracking of nursing home’s coronavirus outbreak
Beaver County officials said Thursday they are frustrated about differing state reports on how many nursing home residents have coronavirus as they grapple with one agency’s report that Brighton Rehabilitation has more than 100 cases. The state Department of Health is reporting 70 cases total across two of the county’s...
Excela retiree answers the call for personal protective equipment
When covid-19 began spreading across the United States, Excela Health officials looked to someone who had helped in the past to plan for the future. “Our Quality and Safety Departments asked Dave Byers, who retired last year as Excela Health’s director of safety, if he would be willing to join...
Home restrictions on New Yorkers extended another month
NEW YORK — New York planned for a long fight against the coronavirus outbreak amid hopeful hospitalization trends. Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended stay-at-home restrictions Thursday through mid-May, and New York City is getting ready to use 11,000 empty hotel rooms for coronavirus quarantines. Meanwhile, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the...
Nurse N’at brings faces of Pittsburgh-area front line workers to the publicVideo
A Pittsburgh-area registered nurse is bringing the faces of the front lines to the community, in hopes that their support will help the region’s nurses push through the daily work related to the coronavirus pandemic. Dena Strano of Plum has been collecting photographs of nurses wearing items from the online...
Trump, aides float outlier theory on origins of coronavirusVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and some of his officials are flirting with an outlier theory that the new coronavirus was set loose on the world by a Chinese lab that let it escape. Without the weight of evidence, they’re trying to blame China for sickness and death from covid-19...
Congressional Budget Office puts coronavirus relief bill cost at $1.8 trillion
WASHINGTON — The massive coronavirus relief bill passed virtually unanimously by Congress last month is estimated at costing taxpayers $1.8 trillion — slightly less than the $2.2 trillion informally projected at the time by the White House. That’s according to the Congressional Budget Office, which says the difference is due...
Pennsylvania’s ‘masks in public’ order manifests in a variety of ways in Western Pa.
Alyson Holt’s house in Murrysville is starting to fill up with 3D printers. Her husband, Gary, already had two and recently ordered a third. These days, they are humming steadily, creating moldable face masks using polyactic acid plastic, the most common material for 3D printing. The Holts are using a...
Mayor Peduto: Pittsburgh will feel financial effects of pandemic for 5 years
The City of Pittsburgh is likely to feel the economic effects of the coronavirus for the next five years, Mayor Bill Peduto said in a speech Thursday. He called the city’s financial picture “bleak” and said there will be a budget shortfall of tens of millions of dollars this year,...
Trump gives governors 3-phase plan to reopen economy
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump gave governors a road map Thursday for recovering from the economic pain of the coronavirus pandemic, laying out “a phased and deliberate approach” to restoring normal activity in places that have strong testing and are seeing a decrease in covid-19 cases. “We’re starting our life...
