Coronavirus category, Page 247

Kathy Payne has a routine: She wipes down the trays holding the mail she’s about to deliver. She puts on gloves to sort the letters and packages, then a new pair when she climbs into her vehicle. As she fills people’s mailboxes throughout the day, she constantly cleans her steering...

LOS ANGELES — The surge of coronavirus cases in California that health officials have warned was coming has arrived and will worsen, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday, while the mayor of Los Angeles warned that by early next week his city could see the kind of crush that has crippled...

Employees at five Giant Eagle stores have tested positive for coronavirus, including stores in New Kensington, North Huntingdon and Wexford, the company announced Friday. All five of the affected grocery stores have been thoroughly sanitized and are open for business, the company said in a statement. “Like other essential businesses,...

Coronavirus is frightening. I’m working from home, practicing “social distancing.” Experts say it’ll help “flatten the curve” so fewer people will be infected simultaneously. Then hospitals won’t be overwhelmed. But the infection rate grows. Doctors and hospitals may yet be overwhelmed. It didn’t have to get to this point. Coronavirus...

A person associated with Seton Hill Child Services Inc.’s Greensburg Center, which has been closed since March 18, tested positive for the coronavirus, a Child Services official said Friday. Seton Hill Child Care representatives were not notified that the person tested positive for the coronavirus until after the center closed...

Butler County on Friday joined the growing list of Pennsylvania counties under Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home order. The order was scheduled to take effect at 8 p.m. Friday and continue until April 6. Individuals must stay at home “unless someone’s life depends on your leaving,” according to the order. In...

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly said Friday that he has tested positive for covid-19. The Republican from Butler, 71, said his symptoms are not severe and that he will continue to work from home until they subside completely. “My symptoms remain mild, and I will serve the 16th District from home...

DETROIT — President Donald Trump issued an order Friday that seeks to force General Motors to produce ventilators for coronavirus patients under the Defense Production Act. Trump said negotiations with General Motors had been productive, “but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the...

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio has set a new, almost exclusively mail-in primary election for April 28 due to the coronavirus, ignoring the timing recommendations of the state elections chief and some voting-rights groups. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed a sweeping relief bill containing the change Friday, though he also had...

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is asking the public and businesses to delay nonessential digging projects. “While the Pennsylvania One Call system has remained fully operational through this pandemic, we join them in asking consumers, businesses and contractors to not begin any nonessential construction,” PUC Commissioner John F. Coleman Jr....

Allegheny County officials on Friday released a map showing where residents who have tested positive for covid-19 live in the county. The color-coded map can be found on the county’s website. Of the 158 people who have tested positive, 59 live in the City of Pittsburgh, the highest total of...

The Diocese of Greensburg has announced Virtual Holy Week Services to help Catholics in Westmoreland, Armstrong, Indiana and Fayette counties celebrate Easter in their homes. In a statement, Bishop Edward C. Malesic said parishioners should “use the Easter season to stay connected to our faith and be ready to help...

Relax, your food isn’t trying to kill you — probably. While grocery stores have increased sanitation measures amid the coronavirus pandemic, some consumers are worried they have more cleaning to do when they get their goods home. Pittsburgh-based infectious disease and critical care physician Dr. Amesh Adalja doesn’t think shoppers...

As businesses close and workers face drastic pay cuts, the need for functioning nonprofit organizations has never been greater, said Phil Koch, executive director of the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County. Unfortunately, those nonprofits are facing the same challenges as everyone else. “Many of our nonprofit organizations rely on events...

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump and elected leaders in New York are clashing again over the depth of the state’s coronavirus crisis. Meanwhile, the outbreak is taking its toll on the state’s civil servants, with the virus claiming the lives of bus and train workers and a civilian employee...

Two residents in a Kane Community Living Center have tested positive for the coronavirus, Allegheny County officials said Friday. Both residents live in the Glen Hazel facility, where an employee tested positive for covid-19 earlier this week. Dennis Biondo, executive director of Kane, said in a statement the residents were...

Westmoreland County residents have been ordered to stay at home. Gov. Tom Wolf announced an additional nine Pennsylvania counties will be under restrictions as part of the state’s efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The new order, which is in effect from 8 p.m. Friday through April 6,...

TORONTO — The Canadian government is increasing a payroll subsidy to small- and medium-sized businesses to now cover up to 75% of salaries amid the pandemic. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the major increase over the original 10 percent subsidy plan. Trudeau said it became clear they needed to do...

Health care systems in Western Pennsylvania are working to equip all employees in clinical areas of its hospitals with protective masks. UPMC said it is also providing masks to staff and visitors to hospitals after they pass a screening test. Westmoreland County-based Excela Health, which has hospitals Greensburg, Latrobe and...