Coronavirus category, Page 250
Penn Hills lays off 57 municipal employees
Penn Hills announced Wednesday it would lay off 57 full- and part-time employees – including school crossing guards, library staff and senior center workers – in response to pressures experienced during the coronavirus pandemic. “Having to place dedicated personnel onto layoff status was not a good day for Penn Hills,”...
Pregnant women with coronavirus infection can pass it to their babies, study finds
A study of 33 pregnant women in China who were infected with the new coronavirus found that three of them gave birth to babies with COVID-19. All three infants survived after receiving treatment for their symptoms, doctors reported Thursday in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics. One of those infants was...
Congress’ relief bill would vastly expand unemployment aidVideo
NEW YORK — With record-high numbers of Americans seeking unemployment benefits after losing their jobs because of the coronavirus, Congress is set to significantly enhance the program. The $2.2 trillion rescue package nearing final approval will, for four months, add $600 a week to standard unemployment benefits, which vary by...
In drastic move, Italy shuts most factories to halt virusVideo
SOAVE, ITALY — Italy has become the first Western developed nation to idle most of its industry to halt the spread of the coronavirus, a potential cautionary tale for other governments, such as the Trump administration, that are resisting such drastic measures. After more than two weeks of a nationwide...
8 new coronavirus cases reported in Westmoreland County, bringing total to 24
Coronavirus cases in Westmoreland County jumped to 24 on Thursday, according to state health officials, continuing a steady increase that began at the start of the week. The eight new cases are part of a statewide increase of 560 case in one day. The statewide total now stands at 1,687,...
Dave Matthews to livestream set from home, kick off weekly seriesVideo
Dave Matthews is playing live from his home tonight for a good cause. The singer-songwriter will play a 30-minute set starting at 8 p.m. that will be shown via Verizon’s Twitter account and also on Yahoo. The streamed set is the first from Pay it Forward Live, a weekly eight-part...
Philip Gasiewicz: 1918, when another pandemic struck close to home
In 1998, the 80th anniversary of the Spanish flu pandemic, I was fortunate to hear two survivors from Western Pennsylvania relate their indelible experiences. Marian McConkey and Lois Monahan were schoolgirls then, old enough to grasp the reach of the Reaper as the Spanish flu swept across the nation. It...
Pennsylvania reports 560 new coronavirus cases as state total tops 1,600
Coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania jumped by more than 500 from Wednesday to Thursday, according to state health officials, and five more people have died. The state Department of Health tallied 560 new cases, bringing the statewide total to 1,687. That’s a 50% increase in 24 hours. That total includes 45...
Fate of new businesses uncertain in face of coronavirus pandemicVideo
Dan Czerpak wondered every day whether opening a barbecue joint in Greensburg during a pandemic was the right move. He weighed the pros and cons regularly leading up to Pit Take’s opening on March 20, a day after the first two cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Westmoreland County....
Arnold Palmer airport eyes coronavirus stimulus package for assist with taxiway project
Westmoreland County’s Arnold Palmer Regional Airport soon could be a landing strip for federal cash freed up through coronavirus recovery funding. A $2 trillion federal stimulus package includes $10 billion designated for airports, according to U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s office. Officials at the Unity airport hope that new pool of...
Allegheny County adds 45 coronavirus cases, total tops 100
There are now more than 100 active cases of covid-19 identified in Allegheny County, according to figures released by the Allegheny County Health Department on Thursday. The county added 45 new cases Thursday, bringing the total to 133, up from 88 on Wednesday. Of those cases, 20 are hospitalized. That...
Penn Hills teachers post selfie video with uplifting messages for studentsVideo
Around 150 teachers at Penn Hills School District contributed to a selfie video addressed to their students. The idea was to let students, who are stuck at home as schools across the state remained closed amid the coronavirus pandemic, know they are missed, said Matt Herdman, a high school math...
Pittsburgh pushes back personal income tax deadline
Pittsburgh is extending its deadline for personal income tax until July 15 and is stopping all delinquent real estate tax billings and late fees, the Mayor’s Office announced on Thursday. The move is in line with 90-day extensions announced by the Internal Revenue Service and the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue....
Sister: N.Y. nurse treating coronavirus patients dies of virusVideo
NEW YORK — A health care worker at one of the New York City hospitals under siege by the coronavirus has died, according to coworkers and his sister. Kious Kelly, an assistant nurse manager at the Mount Sinai West hospital in Manhattan, died Tuesday from the virus after he got...
TV viewership climbing with people stuck at home by virus
A fixture on television, actress Julie Bowen of “Modern Family” is doing the same thing as millions of other people during the widespread coronavirus shutdown. She’s sitting at home, watching more television than she normally would. In a world turned upside down by disease, TV viewership is growing. It’s a...
Gov. Wolf extending stay-at-home order to 2 more counties
Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration reported more coronavirus-related deaths in Pennsylvania on Wednesday and ordered residents of Lehigh and Northampton counties to stay home, with few exceptions, as more of the state is put under the directive in an effort to slow the virus’ spread. Wolf’s office said the order will...
World leaders to meet virtually to coordinate virus responseVideo
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Leaders of the world’s most powerful economies will convene virtually on Thursday to try and coordinate a response to the fast-spreading coronavirus, which has shuttered businesses and forced well over a quarter of the world’s population into home isolation. The meeting for the Group of...
Grants available to small businesses impacted by coronavirus
For Peggy Meier, finding a business or economic disaster loan as the coronavirus continues to spread across the country means saving her company. Meier, who operates John Meier and Sons Hardware in Murrysville, now in its third generation, is contemplating temporarily shuttering — a decision she has been wrangling with...
Comcast offering free on-demand content during outbreak
Comcast announced Thursday it is opening up some of its premium content and some on-demand offerings for free to customers to help them deal with being stuck at home during the coronavirus outbreak. In a release, the company said the content is available for Xfinity X1 and Flex customers and...
Highlights of Congress’ $2.2 trillion virus relief packageVideo
WASHINGTON — What’s exactly in the massive $2.2 trillion package to rush aid to businesses, workers and a health care system slammed by the coronavirus pandemic? The package, written by Trump administration officials and Democratic and Republican Senate leaders, was released late Wednesday night and unanimously approved by the Senate....
Pennsylvanians are doing well at social distancing, location data shows
Pennsylvanians have improved their ability to social distance since Gov. Tom Wolf instilled various mandates in the past week, one study shows. Unacast, a phone data company, used data from mobile phones to track the average change in distance traveled by individuals in each state and country. Across the United...
Port Authority reduces person-to-person contact at Downtown service center
Port Authority of Allegheny County is taking additional social distancing measures at its Downtown Pittsburgh service center in response to the global coronavirus pandemic. Hours at the center are reduced from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Window transactions will be limited to the replacement of ConnectCards. Fees for those...
Senate passes coronavirus rescue package on unanimous voteVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate late Wednesday passed an unparalleled $2.2 trillion economic rescue package steering aid to businesses, workers and health care systems engulfed by the coronavirus pandemic. The unanimous vote came despite misgivings on both sides about whether it goes too far or not far enough and capped days...
Houston rapper Slim Thug says he has tested positive for covid-19Video
Texas rapper Slim Thug announced this week on social media that he has tested positive for coronavirus. The rapper, whose real name is Stayve Jerome Thomas, can be seen in an Instagram post sitting in his home detailing his experience with finding out his diagnosis. View this post on Instagram...
IOC’s Thomas Bach invokes Trump in defense of Olympic decisionVideo
GENEVA — A day after officially postponing the Tokyo Olympics, IOC president Thomas Bach invoked comments by President Donald Trump to defend himself from criticism Wednesday. Bach spoke to about 400 reporters on a conference call and was quizzed why, despite growing concern from athletes, it took so long to...
