Pennsylvania saw 400K jobless claims, labor leader saysVideo
HARRISBURG — More than 400,000 Pennsylvanians filed for unemployment compensation benefits last week amid a tidal wave of coronavirus-related business shutdowns, eclipsing the high-point during the recession a decade ago, the state’s top organized labor leader said Wednesday. Rick Bloomingdale, president of the Pennsylvania chapter of the AFL-CIO, said Gov....
Ohio lawmakers push address state’s response to coronavirus impactVideo
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mandatory state testing for schools would be ditched this year and the deadline for filing state income taxes would be extended until July 15 under legislation being crafted Wednesday by lawmakers to address the impact of the coronavirus. The coronavirus bill would also tackle confusion caused by...
Pandemic financial pressures build for Pittsburgh region’s nonprofit sector
A brewing economic storm, fueled by a pandemic whipping up gale-force financial headwinds, is threatening to batter more than 1 million nonprofit organizations across the nation already struggling with increased demands for services. A plummeting stock market — down some 10,000 points, or about a third, in a month —...
In pandemic, rumors of martial law fly despite reassurances
NEW YORK — Millions of Americans have been ordered to stay home. Businesses and schools are shuttered. And National Guard units have been activated in more than half the states. Yet despite what you may have read in a text message or on social media, there are currently no plans...
Of America and sacrifice: Is the country ready to step up?
WASHINGTON — For most Americans alive today, the idea of shared national sacrifice is a collective abstraction, a memory handed down from a grandparent or passed on through a book or movie. Not since World War II, when people carried ration books with stamps that allowed them to purchase meat,...
Somalia suicide bomber detonates in tea shop, killing 2
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A Somali police officer says a suicide bomber has walked into a tea shop in Somalia’s capital and detonated, killing at least two people. Capt. Mohamed Hussein says the bomber, posing as a pedestrian, entered the shop and detonated his vest among the crowd. Wednesday’s blast in...
South Africa’s virus cases jump; Mali, Guinea-Bissau get 1stVideo
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s coronavirus cases jumped again to 709, the health minister said Wednesday, as the country with the most cases in Africa prepared to go into lockdown first thing Friday. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on state television pointed out “intense local spread” in Free State province among attendees...
China lifting last controls in province at outbreak’s centerVideo
BEIJING — Trains carrying factory employees back to work after two months in locked-down cities rolled out of Hubei province, the center of China’s virus outbreak, as the government on Wednesday began lifting the last of the controls that confined tens of millions of people to their homes. Roadblocks on...
Turkish prosecutors file indictment over Khashoggi killingVideo
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish prosecutors have formally charged two former aides of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and 18 other Saudi nationals over the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, officials said Wednesday. A statement from the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said it has completed its investigation...
Britain’s Prince Charles tests positive for new coronavirusVideo
LONDON — Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, his office said Wednesday. The 71-year-old is showing mild symptoms of covid-19 and is self-isolating at a royal estate in Scotland, his Clarence House office said. It says his wife Camilla, 72, has...
Afghan officials say 25 killed in Kabul attack on Sikhs
KABUL, Afghanistan — A lone Islamic State gunman rampaged through a Sikh house of worship in the heart of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Wednesday, killing 25 worshippers and wounding eight, Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry said. The gunman held many of the worshippers hostage for several hours as Afghan special forces,...
Deal reached on historic $2 trillion virus rescue billVideo
WASHINGTON — The White House and Senate leaders of both parties announced agreement early Wednesday on an unprecedented $2 trillion emergency bill to rush sweeping aid to businesses, workers and a health care system slammed by the coronavirus pandemic. The urgently needed pandemic response measure is the largest economic rescue...
Zimbabwe public doctors strike over lack of virus protectionVideo
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s public hospital doctors went on strike Wednesday over what they called a lack of adequate protective gear as the coronavirus begins to spread in a country whose health system has almost collapsed. The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association president, Tawanda Zvakada, said doctors were at “high risk”...
Michigan Gov. Whitmer: Detroit-area hospital system ‘almost at capacity’Video
LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer warned Tuesday that a Detroit-area hospital system was “almost at capacity” treating people with the coronavirus, as the state’s stay-at-home order kicked in to reduce the spread. The governor, speaking about her measure with WDET-FM, pointed to Beaumont Health, which has eight hospitals in...
2 in Pennsylvania, New Jersey accused of coughing on people, citing coronavirus
TRENTON, N.J. — Authorities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania say individuals in both states have been charged with coughing on people in stores and saying they were infected with the coronavirus. The New Jersey attorney general’s office said Tuesday that 50-year-old George Falcone of Freehold is accused of having coughed...
More than 750,000 masks auctioned for huge markup while hospitals run out
At a time when shortages of protective gear are putting health care workers at risk, more than 750,000 medical-grade masks went up for online auction in Texas. Bottles of Purell sold for over $40. A box of 16 masks went for $170. They could be had retail for $3 each...
Los Angeles County reports virus death of person under 18
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County on Tuesday reported what may be the first U.S. death of a person under 18 from coronavirus. Health officials said the youth lived in the Mojave Desert city of Lancaster north of Los Angeles but didn’t provide other details. “This is a devastating reminder...
Covid-19 testing at zoo produces 10 additional cases, group says
Testing for covid-19 at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium parking lot on Monday resulted in 10 positive tests, Central Outreach Wellness Center officials announced Tuesday evening. Five positive tests came out of testing in Beaver County. More than 600 people were screened for testing at the Pittsburgh Zoo location,...
Pennsylvania House votes to delay primary election for 5 weeks
The House voted preliminarily on Tuesday to delay Pennsylvania’s primary election on April 28 for five weeks, until June 2. The House is expected to send the bill to the Senate with another vote on Wednesday. The Republican-sponsored amendment would also let counties consolidate polling places, in part because some...
Moscow tells some victims to treat coronavirus at home
MOSCOW — Authorities in Moscow have changed course and are now saying coronavirus patients with relatively light symptoms should receive treatment at home. Previously, Russian health care officials had hospitalized all those who tested positive for the coronavirus along with those suspected of having it. Russia has reported 495 cases...
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo demands help as state coronavirus cases surge above 25,000
NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo offered a grim update on the exploding coronavirus pandemic Tuesday, saying New York is in the grip of a frightening “spike” with 25,665 people now infected in the state and 210 dead. Speaking at the Javits Center in Manhattan, where the state is stockpiling...
Erie Mayor Joe Schember declares state of emergency over covid-19
Erie Mayor Joe Schember on Tuesday issued a state of emergency declaration for the city, effective immediately, because of the covid-19 pandemic. Schember said the declaration is necessary to protect city residents. He also said that by officially declaring a state of emergency “it helps ensure that we can be...
Penn State confirms case of covid-19
Penn State reported its first case of covid-19 on its University Park campus on Tuesday. An alert was sent to students and the rest of the university community. No information about the individual was immediately available. “It is up to public health authorities to determine what information is shared publicly...
Fake meme claims hunting and fishing seasons are canceled in Pennsylvania
A meme circulating on social media channels falsely claims that the Pennsylvania Game Commission has canceled all hunting and fishing seasons for 2020. But as the commission noted on its official page, it “has not suspended, altered or changed any hunting regulations, seasons or bag limits in response to the...
Local officials criticize Liberty University as students return
RICHMOND, Va. — Officials in Lynchburg, Va., said Tuesday they were fielding complaints about the hundreds of students who have returned from their spring break to Liberty University, where President Jerry Falwell Jr. has welcomed them back amid the coronavirus pandemic. “We could not be more disappointed in the action...
