Coronavirus category, Page 91

Wayne Grabiak had encouragement coming from all angles. There were the FaceTime calls with his wife and text messages from family, friends and his cardiologist. Plus, the staff at AHN Jefferson Hospital loudly repeating a mantra through a glass window separating his room from the rest of the intensive care...

When Kristin Giron Stewart was discharged from UPMC St. Margaret hospital after a 13-day battle with covid-19 over the summer, she thought she was well on her way to recovery. The 47-year-old Lower Burrell woman grew frustrated and frightened as the days wore on, and she continued to struggle with...

Families that usually reunite on Christmas over a hearty, lingering meal stayed home Friday, services were held online, and gift exchanges were low-key in one of the most unusual holiday seasons in decades. The coronavirus left almost no one unaffected. Patricia Hager, 60, delivered homemade caramel rolls for breakfast to...

DENVER — The U.S. military is tracking an elderly man with a white beard and a large belly who goes by the name of Saint Nicholas. There’s no reason for alarm though, Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck said. In fact, this is a Christmas tradition going on its 65th...

LOS ANGELES — Hard-hit California eclipsed 2 million coronavirus cases on Christmas Eve as the U.S. headed into a holiday season of travel and family gatherings that threaten to fuel the deadly outbreak across the nation. Despite warnings from public health experts to stay home, over 1.19 million travelers passed...

HARRISBURG — A federal judge in Pennsylvania has rejected a bid to block one of Gov. Tom Wolf’s latest orders to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus, a three-week shutdown of indoor dining at restaurants through Jan. 4, as Wolf went to court to sue restaurants defying the...

LOS ANGELES — The nurses of California are afraid. It’s Christmas Eve, and they aren’t home with their families. They are working, always working, completely gowned up — and worn down. They’re frightened by what people are doing, or not doing, during a coronavirus pandemic that has already killed more...

When a surge of new cases hit Pennsylvania in early December, it ratcheted up the state’s average daily case count to over 10,000. Over the past week, that surge seems to have eased slightly. The trend continued on the day before Christmas. With 9,230 new covid-19 cases announced by the...

People who were fully or partially unemployed for six weeks in August and September because of covid-19 are running out of time to apply for extra aid. Eligible individuals could receive up to $300 a week in extra jobless benefits, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency will close the application...

With 368 new cases of covid-19 announced Thursday, Westmoreland County continues to bend the average downward. The Pennsylvania Department of Health’s latest report shows the county is seeing 30% fewer new cases than a week ago. Over the past seven days, Westmoreland has registered 2,229 cases, as opposed to 3,176...

Despite a steady day-to-day increase in new covid-19 cases this week, Allegheny County is still seeing 19% fewer new cases than at this time last week. On the day before Christmas, the Health Department reported 912 new cases — 630 confirmed through 1,958 PCR tests, conducted from Nov. 30 through...

WASHINGTON — House Republicans shot down a Democratic bid on Thursday to pass President Donald Trump’s longshot, end-of-session demand for $2,000 direct payments to most Americans before signing a long-overdue covid-19 relief bill. The made-for-TV clash came as the Democratic-controlled chamber convened for a pro forma session scheduled in anticipation...

Jim Kuhns had 30 cupcakes for his 91st birthday on Monday. He had balloons, gifts, cards and his favorite: scratch-off lottery tickets. But something was missing — his family. That’s because the Greensburg man celebrated in Westmoreland Hospital while battling covid. Betty Kuhns, his wife of 66 years, wasn’t by...

Two new studies give encouraging evidence that having covid-19 may offer some protection against future infections. Researchers found that people who made antibodies to the coronavirus were much less likely to test positive again for up to six months and maybe longer. The results bode well for vaccines, which provoke...

About 41,400 health care workers have received covid-19 vaccinations since last week, Heath Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said Wednesday. Levine said hospitals are vaccinating their own workers, and are also responsible for administering doses to health care workers in their communities that are not affiliated with hospitals – including emergency...

The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Wednesday reported 9,605 new coronavirus cases and 230 deaths in the state. The new positive tests bring the state’s total to 581,156 and the newly added deaths raise the state’s total to 14,442. Pennsylvania’s seven-day average of new cases dropped to 8,827 after hitting...

Westmoreland County added 327 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, the 44th straight day of triple-digit new cases. The new cases bring the county’s total to 17,406, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Of those new cases, 270 are confirmed and 57 are probable. The PCR test positivity rate of the...

Allegheny County’s coronavirus case total grew by 830 on Wednesday, putting the county on pace to reach 50,000 later this week. At its current pace — after averaging 819 cases per day over the past week — the county’s total will hit 50,000 on Christmas Day. Only Philadelphia has reached...

NEW YORK — A New York City health care worker experienced a “significant allergic reaction” after receiving a covid-19 vaccine, the city Health Department revealed Wednesday morning. More than 30,000 people in the city have gotten the shot since it was first administered to a Queens ICU nurse last week,...

WASHINGTON — Pfizer and BioNTech will supply the U.S. with an additional 100 million doses of the covid-19 vaccine under a new agreement. The drugmakers said Wednesday that they expect to deliver all the doses by July 31 in the nearly $2 billion deal. Pfizer already has a contract to...

In the nine months since testing for covid-19 became available, the number of tests performed in one day across Pennsylvania has increased exponentially, and the state’s testing director said Tuesday he hopes testing capacity will continue to improve and turnaround time will continue to decrease. In early March, when the...

It’s perhaps the most unofficial Christmas tradition there is. On Christmas Day, many members of the Jewish community go out to eat at Chinese restaurants because they are usually the only ones open. This is often followed by a trip to the nearest bowling alley. It’s a ritual that goes...