Coronavirus category, Page 98

Westmoreland County officials said Friday that most business at the courthouse in Greensburg will be conducted by appointment only through the end of December. Commissioners said all county offices will continue to operate during the three-week period of new restrictions announced earlier this week by Gov. Tom Wolf amid the...

A few hours after Gov. Wolf announced new covid limits for indoor gatherings to 10 people Thursday, North Huntingdon officials essentially thumbed their nose at him, saying anyone can attend their public meeting on Dec. 16. “It they (residents) want to come, they can come and speak,” said Zachary Haigis,...

Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday he tested negative for covid-19 for the second time since he received his diagnosis on Wednesday. Wolf said he’s tested for the virus each Tuesday, and he tested positive during the routine test this week. Subsequent tests on Wednesday and Thursday evenings came back negative,...

Doctors and nurses around the U.S. are becoming exhausted and demoralized as they struggle to cope with a record-breaking surge of covid-19 patients that is overwhelming hospitals and prompting governors to clamp back down to contain the virus. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday banned indoor dining in New...

A day after Gov. Tom Wolf announced a suspension of all school sports and extracurricular activities, Pennsylvania’s Acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega and Deputy Secretary Matt Stem doubled down on the state’s approach of leaving the ultimate reopening decisions up to individual school districts. “We recognize there is no...

With some Americans now paying the price for what they did over Thanksgiving and falling sick with COVID-19, health officials are warning people — begging them, even — not to make the same mistake during the Christmas and New Year’s season. “It’s a surge above the existing surge,” said Ali...

Pennsylvania reported 12,745 new covid-19 cases Friday, according to the state Department of Health. The new cases mark the sixth time that new reported cases have been over 10,000, all of these instances coming in December. Total cases in the state are now 470,034 and will likely hit 500,000 by...

Americans could start receiving a covid-19 vaccine as early as this month, as three drugmakers have produced vaccines deemed highly effective. Health and government officials are moving quickly to organize the distribution and delivery systems for the vaccines. Three drugmakers — AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer — are seeking regulatory approval...

Westmoreland County has again broken the record for new covid-19 cases in the county, a day after the previous record was broken. There were 657 new covid cases reported Friday, surpassing Thursday’s record of 505 cases. In the past two days, 1,162 cases have been reported. It previously took the...

Allegheny County set a record for new covid-19 cases Friday. There were 1,322 new covid cases reported, breaking the previous record set Dec. 5 by 125 cases. This is the fourth time that new reported cases have eclipsed 1,000, all of which have come this month. New patients range in...

Drugmakers GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi said Friday that their potential covid-19 vaccine won’t be ready until late next year because they need to improve the shot’s effectiveness in older people. The companies said early trials showed the vaccine produced an “insufficient” immune response in people over 60 because it didn’t contain...

Brighton Heights resident Tom Sarver, a nationally recognized artist, created a Virtual Puppetry Residency that connects creative people from around the globe. Their work can been Saturday at the International Puppet Festival, an online show featuring 32 artists. There will be children’s, all-ages and adult shows (may contain adult humor,...

NEW YORK — Because of the global coronavirus pandemic, concert trade publication Pollstar puts the total lost revenue for the live events industry in 2020 at more than $30 billion. Pollstar on Friday said the live events industry should have hit a record-setting $12.2 billion this year, but instead it...

WASHINGTON — Confronted with widespread distrust of government in communities of color, the Trump administration is turning to historically Black colleges and churches for help to alleviate fears about the coming coronavirus vaccines and promote them to a population that has been at high risk during the pandemic. Surgeon General...

The Peoples Gas Holiday Market and Santa Zoom Experience in Market Square are closing Friday night, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership announced. The Merry Market Pop-Up scheduled to open this weekend will not take place. News of the cancellations came after Thursday’s announcement by Gov. Tom Wolf. His orders amid the...

The speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives died of covid-19, a medical examiner ruled Thursday, a day after the Republican’s unexpected death, raising concerns that other members of one of the world’s largest legislative bodies might have been exposed at their swearing-in last week. Dick Hinch, who was...

WASHINGTON — A government advisory panel endorsed widespread use of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine Thursday, putting the country just one step away from launching an epic vaccination campaign against the outbreak that has killed close to 300,000 Americans. Shots could begin within days, depending on how quickly the Food and Drug...

Additional video conferencing rooms will be built at Westmoreland County Prison to allow for more court hearings to be held remotely as coronavirus infections continue to spread among inmates. Commissioners on Thursday hired Laurel Design and Construction Inc. of Hempfield to install new areas at the jail to allow more...

Preparing for the covid-19 vaccine is like no other immunization, said Dr. Brian Parker, chief quality learning officer at Allegheny Health Network. In recent weeks, the network has acquired several massive ultra-cold freezers in expectation of the Pfizer vaccine, which requires an environment of minus 70 degrees below Celsius —...

Gov. Tom Wolf and state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine are addressing the current status of the covid-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania during a 4 p.m. news conference. Watch the livestream of the news conference here. On Wednesday, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said he expected new covid-related restrictions from the...

MISSION, Kan. — Just when the U.S. appears on the verge of rolling out a covid-19 vaccine, the numbers have become gloomier than ever: Over 3,000 American deaths in a single day, more than on D-Day or 9/11. One million new cases in the span of five days. More than...

With covid-19 on the rise again and more help needed for those impacted by the pandemic, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald has announced the county is committing an additional $2 million to programs through the United Way. The United Way’s Students and Families Food Relief Fund will receive $1 million...

Pennsylvania First Lady Frances Wolf has tested negative for covid-19 a day after her husband, Gov. Tom Wolf, announced he had contracted the virus. Per guidance from state and federal health agencies, she will continue to quarantine at home. She said in a statement that she and the governor are...

Westmoreland County on Thursday added 505 new cases of coronavirus to break its daily record by 68 cases. Of the new cases, 483 are confirmed out of 1,005 new tests. The county has now had 12,369 cases of covid-19 with 9,918 of those confirmed and 1,307 recorded as probable, according...