Coronavirus category, Page 258

The Omni William Penn Hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh will close for a little more than two months in response to the coronavirus pandemic. An emailed statement from Peter Strebel, president of Omni Hotels & Resorts, said the hotel will suspend operations Monday and stay closed through at least June 1....

Another 108 new confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in Pennsylvania, the state Department of Health announced Sunday. In all, 479 cases have been confirmed in the state, with 5,443 people having been tested. That means 4,964 people have tested negative. Two people have died as a result of...

Allegheny County now has 40 positives cases of covid-19, the Allegheny County Health Department said Sunday. Of those cases, four people are hospitalized, health department officials said. The number of confirmed cases is expected to continue to grow. “The most important thing you can do to help stop the spread...

Thousands of protective masks are being shipped to Pittsburgh to help support the region’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, officials announced Sunday. MSA Safety Inc. has partnered with Highmark Health and Allegheny Health Network to secure a shipment of 65,000 N95 protective masks to the region. Such masks have become...

A worldwide group representing Olympic hopefuls is calling on the IOC to postpone the Tokyo Olympics until the coronavirus pandemic is under control. “As the world unites to limit the spread of covid-19 virus, the IOC … must do the same,” Global Athlete said in a news release Sunday. This...

PARIS — Young German adults hold “corona parties” and cough toward older people. A Spanish man leashes a goat to go for a walk to skirt confinement orders. From France to Florida to Australia, kitesurfers, college students and others crowd the beaches. Their defiance of lockdown mandates and scientific advice...

New York City was hit by the nation’s largest coronavirus jail outbreak to date this week, with at least 38 people testing positive at the notorious Rikers Island complex and nearby facilities — more than half of them incarcerated men, the board that oversees the city’s jail system said Saturday....

The coronavirus pandemic is leading to information overload for many people, often making it difficult to separate fact from fiction and rumor from deliberate efforts to mislead. Already, text messages predicting a nationwide lockdown have circulated, along with social media posts telling people that one way to get tested for...

Dr. Amesh Adalja, a Pittsburgh-based infectious disease expert and a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, has been answering our questions throughout the coronavirus pandemic. We asked him six more on Sunday. Adalja, who has published papers on pandemic preparedness in the New England Journal of Medicine, stresses...

The virus pandemic advanced Sunday after the U.S. and Europe reported soaring new cases, prompting a scramble in some regions to set up additional hospital beds and replenish much-needed medical supplies. Italy announced its biggest day-to-day increase of infections, which rose by 6,600 with nearly 800 new fatalities from the...

Stockpiling food and water is like a little insurance policy: Hopefully you never have to rely on it, but if you do, if could prove to be priceless. Whether it’s the threat of natural disaster or a pandemic, having a safety stash of food and water can give you a...

Job layoffs, dark movie theaters and quarantined residents fearing the coronavirus and reluctant to venture beyond the front door could lead to one of the worst economic downturns in recent U.S. history, according to one area expert. “We’re headed for a recession, if we’re not in a recession already,” said...

I am a Yale-trained epidemiologist who spent years working around the world to help countries prepare for pandemics. Coworkers, friends and family have asked me for my thoughts and advice on what is happening in the world right now. Here is what I tell them. The threat from covid-19 is...

“Elective surgery.” The term sounds almost frivolous. It conjures up images of nose jobs and breast implants. There is no reason to get a tummy tuck during a pandemic, right? So when government officials are recommending that hospitals discontinue elective surgery, that may sound reasonable. “This will free up bed...

Giant Eagle said Saturday it will be giving $10 million in bonus pay to employees during the coronavirus outbreak. In a press release, the company said the bonus pay will be offered to all those working at Giant Eagle, Market District, Giant Eagle Pharmacy and GetGo locations. In addition, those...

Two hospitals in the region are prohibiting people from visiting patients in an effort to to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Excela Health’s new policy took effect Saturday and only allows patients and staff in the inpatient, outpatient or emergency departments of its facilities. Beginning on Sunday, visitors will...

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank did their part to help local families dealing with effects of the coronavirus Saturday by hosting a drive-up food distribution event in the PNC Park parking lots on the North Shore. Volunteers from both organizations supplied those in need with boxes...

A Carnegie Mellon University student has tested positive for covid-19 days after returning to Pittsburgh from spring break, university officials said. “This case of coronavirus in our campus community is a sobering reality, and it is a reminder that every group is potentially vulnerable to the spread of the virus,”...

The coronavirus pandemic took an increasingly bleak toll Saturday in the U.S. and Europe, producing staggering caseloads in New York and Italy and setting off a desperate scramble to set up thousands of additional hospital beds at convention centers and college campuses. Italy, at the heart of western Europe’s rampaging...

Pennsylvania reported more than 100 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the statewide total to 371 confirmed cases and two deaths. Officials expect to see an “exponential increase” in cases in coming days and weeks, said Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine. “What is most important for Pennsylvanians to remember is...

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — It was just a week ago that Felix Mohen landed in Florida, hopped in an Uber and headed straight for Ocean Drive, the famed South Beach promenade of open-air poolside bars, topless sunbathing and neon-lit Art Deco hotels across from 21/2 miles of beaches that swell...

WASHINGTON — In a clash of gut instinct versus science, President Donald Trump and the government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, publicly sparred over whether a malaria drug would work to treat people with coronavirus disease. Trump clung to his feeling that a malaria drug widely available could...

NEW YORK — Burgeoning coronavirus outbreaks at nursing homes in Washington, Illinois, New Jersey and elsewhere are laying bare the industry’s long-running problems, including a struggle to control infections and a staffing crisis that relies on poorly paid aides who can’t afford to stay home sick. That came into clear...

Allegheny County recorded its first coronavirus death Saturday, the second death in the state since Pennsylvania saw its first case two weeks ago. The person was in their late-60s and being treated at Jefferson Hospital, officials said. County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said the family of the deceased asked that officials...