Coronavirus category, Page 261
Wolf’s shutdown could be more harmful than coronavirus, health expert says
With Gov. Tom Wolf’s announcement Thursday that all non-life-sustaining businesses in Pennsylvania should close, we spoke to Pittsburgh-based infectious disease and critical care physician Dr. Amesh Adalja for a reaction from a medical expert. A senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Adalja works on pandemic preparedness,...
Adapting to Coronavirus: Back home in Beaver County, a Pitt freshman learns at a distance
Editor’s note: Adapting to Coronavirus is a regular series spotlighting the ways a global pandemic is changing the everyday lives of people in Western Pennsylvania. The coronavirus pandemic has caused global disruption to governments, economies and the daily lives of millions. College students haven’t been left out of that mix...
Most renters will not receive protections under White House proposal
NEW YORK — Most Americans who rent their home, many of whom have lost their jobs in the sudden economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak, will not be eligible for eviction protections, despite what President Donald Trump said this week. Under the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s plan...
Fleeing virus for resort homes, some find welcome mat yankedVideo
OCEAN CITY, N.J. — Some city folk have been fleeing to their second homes in resort areas to ride out the coronavirus outbreak near the beach or the ski slopes. But neighbors in many of those places are yanking the welcome mat — fearing infection and the overwhelming of already...
Travelers rush to Moroccan airports for evacuation flights
RABAT, Morocco — Foreigners stranded in locked-down Morocco are getting on evacuation flights Friday as governments try to repatriate their citizens after days of travel frustration. Visitors from around the world have found themselves stuck in Morocco since the North African country suspended all international passenger flights and passenger ships...
Africa’s busiest airport says foreigners can’t disembarkVideo
JOHANNESBURG — Anxiety rose in Africa’s richest nation Friday as South Africa announced coronavirus cases jumped to 202, the most in the sub-Saharan region, while the country’s largest airport announced that foreigners would not be allowed to disembark. And state-owned South African Airways suspended all international flights until June. “The...
Bored kids? Online resources to keep them happy (and learning)
“There’s nothing to do.” What parent hasn’t heard that sad lament from a bored child? Unfortunately, it’s more true now than it actually ever was in the past, as we socially isolate and shelter in place to avoid contracting or spreading covid-19. Luckily, we still have the world at our...
2020 campaigns go digital amid fears of coronavirus spread
WASHINGTON — No more rallies. No more door-knocking. And no more in-person fundraisers, raking in dollars from dozens of millionaires at once. The coronavirus has disrupted American life, and the 2020 presidential campaign is no exception. Amid calls for social distancing to stop the pandemic’s spread, President Donald Trump and...
Virus pandemic’s reach worsens; 10,000 dead worldwideVideo
PARIS — The U.S. warned Americans to avoid all international travel and told citizens abroad to return now or face an “indefinite” absence, and California’s governor asked all 40 million residents to stay home, to try to slow a pandemic death toll that on Friday surpassed 10,000 people worldwide. Wuhan,...
UPMC emergency medicine doctor reacts to first coronavirus death in state, dispels mythsVideo
The first death related to coronavirus has been recorded in Pennsylvania and cases continue to rise in the state. So how should citizens deal with the spread of virus as it hits home? We posed that question and others to Dr. Adam Tobias, emergency medicine physician at UMPC. In an...
Early spring chores to tackle amid covid-19 pandemic
Question: Like everyone else, I’m stuck at home and itching to do some work in the garden. What can I do this time of year that isn’t jumping the gun? I can’t spread mulch because there’s none available yet and I think the ground is still too wet. Is it...
Funerals prohibited in Washington state amid coronavirus fears
SEATTLE — Add funerals to the list of prohibited social gatherings under Washington state’s “social-distancing” order intended to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Sports and arts events had already shuttered after Gov. Jay Inslee’s Monday proclamation shutting down restaurants, bars, theaters and other places where people congregate. On...
California governor orders statewide stay-at-home order
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered the state’s 40 million residents to stay at home, restricting non-essential movements to control the spread of the coronavirus that threatens to overwhelm the state’s medical system. “This is a moment we need to make tough decisions,” Newsom said. “We...
Editorial: Wolf’s excessive attack on the Pa. economy will hurt lives
There is no business that isn’t life-sustaining. Every business in Pittsburgh, and Greensburg, and the Alle-Kiski Valley, in Pennsylvania and beyond. They all sustain life. Maybe they don’t all serve the food that fuels a body, but they provide the paychecks that put food on the table. And so it...
Pittsburgh Mayor Peduto self-quarantines at home
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto will be in a self-quarantine in his home for 14 days after two people he had contact with in Washington, D.C. last week tested positive for the coronavirus. Peduto made the announcement in a video posted to the City of Pittsburgh Twitter account Thursday night. “I...
Gov. Tom Wolf’s business shutdown order draws support, criticism
Gov. Tom Wolf’s order Thursday to close all non-life-sustaining businesses will strain local businesses and local communities, but it may be the state’s best shot at controlling the spread of the coronavirus, some public and health officials said. “Having these nonessential stores closed is having an impact on small businesses...
At-risk cancer patient pleads with community to heed coronavirus warnings
Nurses lined a hallway of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood, clapping and cheering as Sherry Williams reached out with a blue-gloved hand to ring a bell, celebrating the completion of her 16th and final chemotherapy treatment Wednesday. Williams, 50, of Mt. Lebanon, laughed and smiled, looking...
Donald Boudreaux: Globalization, wealth & health
Public emergencies are not opportunities for making permanent changes in public policies. Politicians under the best of circumstances naturally pander to people’s commonplace fears, such as alarm over imports, immigrants and income inequality. But emergencies, by shortening voters’ time horizons and intensifying sensations of individual helplessness, increase voters’ fears and...
Nearly 200 Allegheny County Jail inmates set for release amid coronavirus concerns
Nearly 200 Allegheny County Jail inmates have been or are slated to be released in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Staff from across the court system are working to identify inmates who are appropriate to release, and 189 have been identified thus far, according to a...
Saints’ Sean Payton tests positive for coronavirusVideo
New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton learned Thursday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus, he told ESPN. Payton is the first employee of either an NFL team or the league to make such a diagnosis public. He told the network that he came forward to motivate people...
Cautious optimism on Wall Street sends stocks higher
NEW YORK — Stocks capped a wobbly day on Wall Street with solid gains Thursday, reflecting cautious optimism among investors that emergency action by the U.S. government and central banks will cushion the global economy from a looming recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The swings in the market were...
Lori Falce: Following covid-19 advice
Working from home is one of those things that sounds better in theory than in practice. What’s not to like, right? You can come to the 8:30 a.m. meeting in your pajamas. You can lie on your couch while you answer emails. You can have a real lunch instead of...
Gov. Wolf orders ‘non-life-sustaining’ businesses to close physical locations to halt coronavirus spreadVideo
Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all “non-life-sustaining” businesses in Pennsylvania to close Thursday night in an effort to slow the spread of covid-19. The order took effect at 8 p.m. Businesses that refuse to close down will face “enforcement actions” beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies, beer...
Giant Eagle stores opening earlier for seniors during coronavirus pandemic
All Giant Eagle and Market District supermarkets will open an hour early on select days for customers who are 60 and older, disabled or immune-compromised, the company announced Thursday. Beginning Monday, the grocery chain said it will open its doors at 6 a.m. Monday through Wednesday. The idea is to...
U.S. seeks $3 billion to boost oil producers as prices plunge
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Thursday that it is seeking $3 billion from Congress to top up the country’s strategic petroleum reserves, potentially propping up U.S. oil producers after crude prices crashed globally. President Trump had directed the Energy Department last week to fill the United States’ emergency stash...
