Coronavirus category, Page 92
Pandemic reaches Antarctica, last untouched continent
SANTIAGO, Chile — The pandemic has finally reached every continent on Earth. Chilean authorities announced that at least 58 people that were at two military bases in Antarctica or on a navy ship that went to the continent tested positive for the new coronavirus. So far no other country with...
Westmoreland County issues final covid-relief grants
More than $615,000 in covid relief grants were handed out Tuesday to local volunteer fire departments and emergency medical service units as Westmoreland County exhausted its share of federal stimulus money to help struggling businesses, nonprofits and municipalities amid the ongoing pandemic. Commissioners awarded 24 volunteer fire departments and 10...
U.S. hospitals facing worrisome shortage of nurses, doctors
SAN FRANCISCO — With so many states seeing a flood of coronavirus patients, U.S. hospitals are again worried about finding enough medical workers to meet demand just as infections from the holiday season threaten to add to the burden on American health care. California, which is enduring by far its...
White House covid coordinator Deborah Birx says she will retire
WASHINGTON — Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus response, said Tuesday she plans to retire, but is willing to first help President-elect Joe Biden’s team with its coronavirus response as needed. Birx, in an interview with the news site Newsy, did not give a specific timetable on...
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster tests positive for the coronavirus
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has tested positive for the coronavirus and was slated to receive outpatient antibody treatment for “mild symptoms,” his office said Tuesday. McMaster, 73, learned he had tested positive late Monday following a test “due to coming into close contact with the covid-19...
With virus drop, North Dakota bars can resume normal hours
BISMARCK, N.D. — Gov. Doug Burgum signed an amended executive order that paved the way for bars and restaurants in North Dakota to return to regular hours of operation on Tuesday, as the active number of covid-19 cases and hospitalizations have declined in the state. The food service establishments had...
Pa. reports 7,962 new covid cases; 36% of total cases have come in December
Pennsylvania reported 7,962 new covid cases and 231 new deaths Tuesday, according to the state Department of Health. After the new numbers, total cases in the state are now 571,551 and total deaths are 14,212. In December, there have been 210,087 cases and 3,829 deaths reported, which are about 36%...
Westmoreland County covid numbers continue to make December worst month of pandemic
As the month winds down, covid cases and deaths in Westmoreland County continue to make December the county’s worst month of the pandemic. There were 302 new covid-19 cases and nine deaths reported Tuesday. Those figures bring total cases to 17,079 and 358 total deaths in the county. This month,...
Can employers make covid-19 vaccination mandatory?
Can employers make covid-19 vaccination mandatory? Yes, with some exceptions. Experts say employers can require employees to take safety measures, including vaccination. That doesn’t necessarily mean you would get fired if you refuse, but you might need to sign a waiver or agree to work under specific conditions to limit...
Britain finds itself isolated and uncertain ahead of Brexit
LONDON — Hundreds of stranded truck drivers hoped to get the green light to leave Britain on Tuesday as the country found itself increasingly isolated and its trade bottled up, cut off by neighbors afraid of a new strain of the coronavirus circulating in England. More than 1,500 trucks snaked...
Christmas in the ICU: Decorations, lights and many tears
OPELIKA, Ala. — A Christmas tree stands outside the intensive care room where a man stricken by covid-19 lies unconscious, a machine breathing for him. A few feet away, a plastic snowman adorns the door of another patient whose face is barely visible behind ventilator tubes. The decorations are “a...
Allegheny County reports 10 new covid deaths, 797 new cases
The Allegheny County Health Department reported 10 new covid-19 deaths Tuesday. There were 797 new covid cases reported, as well. After the new figures, there are 47,908 total cases and 790 total deaths in Allegheny County. There have been 19,504 cases and 281 deaths reported in December thus far, about...
Covid cases rise in Concordia at Cabot
The number of covid-19 infections has risen significantly at Concordia at Cabot, a nursing and personal care facility in Butler County. As of Monday, 25 nursing home residents and 16 skilled nursing employees have tested positive for the virus at Cabot. On the same campus, 55 residents in Lund personal...
Biden to address covid bill, holiday pandemic precautions
WILMINGTON, Del. — President-elect Joe Biden will speak Tuesday as the nation deals with a covid-19 surge that’s casting a shadow over the Christmas holiday this week. Biden will deliver remarks in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday afternoon, where he’s expected to speak on the $900 billion coronavirus aid bill passed...
Health officials launch online form to speed covid case investigations
Pennsylvania health officials will start conducting covid-19 case investigations digitally for some people, the Department of Health announced Monday. The department unveiled a new “digital case investigation tool” for state residents between the ages of 19 and 64 who live in a county without its own county or municipal health...
Biden gets covid-19 vaccine, says ‘nothing to worry about’
NEWARK, Del. — President-elect Joe Biden on Monday received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations are safe. The president-elect took a dose of Pfizer vaccine at a hospital not far from his Delaware...
Glenn Marsch: Triumph of the vaccine — the swift rescue
In the first month or two of 2020, we had the first hint of a new, strange disease that originated in Wuhan, China. By March, we were locked down in our homes and have lived unprecedented disruptions of normal life since then. All along we have looked to science for...
Pennsylvania’s covid-19 cases continue slight downward trend
Health officials said there were 15,100 new cases of coronavirus over the past two days — 19% less than this time last week. The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced 7,213 covid-19 cases on Sunday and another 7,887 cases on Monday. Of the two-day new cases, 90% (13,653) were confirmed through...
Westmoreland County posts 574 new covid cases, 4 deaths over 2 days
Westmoreland County posted 574 new cases of coronavirus over the past two days, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The county added 213 cases on Sunday, 361 on Monday. Of the new two-day cases, 75% (430) were confirmed through PCR tests, while 144 were considered probable cases. There were...
Caution urged as covid vaccines arrive in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine laid out the state’s vaccine distribution progress Monday while updating the public on covid’s mounting toll in the state. Levine reported 7,745 new covid-19 cases statewide Monday and 7,355 Sunday, bringing the state’s total number of infections to 563,589. There were 57 new deaths...
EU greenlights covid-19 vaccine after agency gives safety OK
AMSTERDAM — The European Union on Monday gave official approval for the coronavirus vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer to be put onto the market across the 27-nation bloc. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the commission “took the decision to make available for European citizens the first...
Probe: Trump officials attacked CDC reports about coronavirus spread
WASHINGTON — Trump administration political appointees tried to block or change more than a dozen government reports that detailed scientific findings about the spread of the coronavirus, a House panel investigating the alleged interference said Monday. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said his coronavirus subcommittee investigators have found evidence of a...
Allegheny County reports Pa.’s highest batch of new covid cases
Allegheny County on Monday posted the highest number of new coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania, recording more than twice as many new cases than the next county. Officials with the county’s Health Department reported 781 additional cases Monday. The next highest new-case count was recorded in Lehigh County with 382. Over...
Vatican: OK to get virus vaccines using abortion cell lines
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican on Monday declared that it is “morally acceptable” for Roman Catholics to receive covid-19 vaccines based on research that used fetal tissue from abortions. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s watchdog office for doctrinal orthodoxy, said it had received several requests...
Britain hit with travel bans over new coronavirus strain
LONDON — Trucks waiting to get out of Britain backed up for miles and people were left stranded at airports Monday as countries around the world slapped tough travel restrictions on the U.K. because of a new and seemingly more contagious strain of the coronavirus in England. A growing number...
