Trump administration: $1.3M for fast coronavirus test development
President Donald Trump’s administration announced Friday it is awarding $1.3 million to two companies trying to develop rapid covid-19 tests that could detect whether a person is positive for the new coronavirus within an hour. The Department of Health and Human Services said it is awarding $679,000 to DiaSorin Molecular,...
Latest on coronavirus: Gov. Wolf explains measures taken in Pa.; state cases rise to 41
Over the course of just a few hours Friday, cases of the novel coronavirus in Pennsylvania jumped from 33 to 41 — including the first patient to test presumptive positive from Western Pennsylvania. The Washington County case was announced during a 5 p.m. update by the state Department of Health....
Big city, big worry: New Yorkers fret as bustling city slows as coronavirus spreads
NEW YORK — New Yorkers will awake Friday to find the coronavirus has left their famously bustling city with no Broadway, no basketball games, no big gatherings, and a populace unnerved by an ever-worsening crisis. A dizzying series of temporary coronavirus-related closures announced Thursday included some of the city’s cultural...
Pa. state prisons suspend all visits amid covid-19 concerns
State prisons in Pennsylvania have suspended all visits for at least two weeks, the Department of Corrections announced late Thursday. Corrections Secretary John Wetzel also said enhanced screenings of staff, vendors, chaplains and other contractors will begin at all state correctional institutions. Wetzel had announced Wednesday that only SCI-Phoenix, which...
Holy Cross Academy in Ross closed Friday over fear of coronavirus exposure
Holy Cross Academy in Ross is closed Friday after officials learned that a student may have been exposed to the coronavirus, the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese announced this morning. Officials said the student was possibly exposed to the virus from a relative outside the school. They stressed that nobody in the...
Spain orders 1st mandatory lockdown for 60,000 amid coronavirus pandemic
The Latest on the world’s coronavirus pandemic: Spain’s has ordered its first mandatory lockdown, confining over 60,000 people to four towns as infections for the new coronavirus increase sharply. The rise is straining health services and putting more pressure on the government to act faster to fight the pandemic. The...
Disney World closes theme parks for rest of March as coronavirus concerns swell
ORLANDO, Fla. — Throughout its nearly 50-year history, Walt Disney World has closed briefly a handful of times from looming hurricanes and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but late Thursday, the company announced it would shut down for nearly two weeks starting Sunday because of the coronavirus pandemic — an unprecedented...
3 Alle-Kiski Valley districts on 2-hour delay so staff can prep for possible closings due to coronavirus
Students in the Leechburg Area, Allegheny Valley and Riverview will be on a two-hour delay Friday so staff can develop plans to continue educating students if a decision is made to shut down school buildings to curb the spread of the coronavirus, district officials announced. The delay is for students...
Fox Chapel schools closed after student’s ill parent raises concerns about coronavirus exposure
The Fox Chapel Area School District will close all schools Friday after officials learned that the parent of a high school student is ill and concerned about potential exposure to coronavirus. While the student’s parent has not traveled to any areas known to have the virus, the district said it...
Golf pro loved the game, befriended by Deacon and Arnold Palmer
The game of golf gave Martin R. Statler entree to a world far different from the Latrobe in which he grew up during World War II. Mr. Statler was tutored in golf by Latrobe Country Club pro Jerome “Deacon” Palmer and golfed with his son, Arnold Palmer, as well as...
Trudeau’s wife tests positive for new coronavirus
TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife has tested positive for the new coronavirus, his office announced Thursday night. It said Sophie Grégoire Trudeau was felling well and would remain in isolation. “The Prime Minister is in good health with no symptoms. As a precautionary measure and following the...
Boris Yaro, LA Times photographer who took iconic image of mortally wounded RFK, dies
LOS ANGELES — As Robert F. Kennedy was leaving the Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968, following his victory in that year’s California Democratic presidential primary, a part-time Los Angeles Times photographer, working on his own time in hopes of catching a shot for his wall, followed. “The idea went...
Horse-drawn carriages might be a thing of the past in Chicago as City Council considers measure to ban them
CHICAGO — Horse-drawn carriages could be pulled from the streets of Chicago if City Council passes an ordinance next week. The city’s Committee on License and Consumer Protection on Wednesday unanimously approved the ordinance, which would effectively take carriages off the streets by Jan. 1, 2021. The measure halts the...
Officials: U.S. strikes Iran-backed group that hit Iraq base
WASHINGTON — The U.S. launched airstrikes Thursday in Iraq, American officials said, targeting the Iranian-backed Shia militia members believed responsible for the rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at a base north of Baghdad. One U.S. official said multiple strikes targeted Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside...
U.S. surveillance powers set to temporarily expire
WASHINGTON — Three surveillance powers available to the U.S. government are set to temporarily expire Sunday after a trio of senators opposed a bipartisan House bill that would renew the authorities and impose new restrictions. The Senate will consider the House bill next week, but it is unclear if President...
Supercomputer helps in tracking East Africa locust outbreak
KAMPALA, Uganda — A supercomputer is boosting efforts in East Africa to control a locust outbreak that raises what the U.N. food agency calls “an unprecedented threat” to the region’s food security. The computer, a donation from Britain, uses satellite data to track locust swarms and predict their next destination....
Awkward moment: Trump and Irish PM skip the handshake
WASHINGTON — President Trump and Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar found themselves in an awkward moment: How do you a greet a fellow world leader in the midst of a global viral pandemic? The two made the mutual decision upon Varadkar’s arrival Thursday for the Irish leader’s annual visit to...
Disneyland closing for rest of month amid coronavirus fears
Disneyland has announced that it’s shutting down its California theme parks Saturday over concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. The company said in a statement Thursday that Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park will be closed through the end of the month though there have been no reported cases of...
Pentagon threatening retaliatory strike after attack in Iraq
WASHINGTON — U.S. military leaders Thursday threatened a retaliatory strike against Iranian-backed Shia militia in Iraq, saying they know who launched the rockets in Iraq that killed and wounded U.S. and coalition troops and the attackers will be held accountable. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters at the Pentagon that...
Broadway shuts its doors over ongoing coronavirus concerns
NEW YORK — New York’s governor ordered all Broadway theaters to shut their doors in the face of ongoing coronavirus concerns, plunging into darkness one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions and causing turmoil in the run-up to the Tony Awards. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday banned gatherings of...
Allegheny County officials disclose ‘bottleneck’ in coronavirus testingVideo
There is a “bottleneck” in testing Allegheny County residents for the novel coronavirus because of strict guidelines, Allegheny County health officials said Thursday, at the same time working to quell panic among the public. There are still no known cases of covid-19 in the county, officials said, noting that because...
When it comes to coronavirus, here’s what ‘social distancing’ actually means
Public health and government officials are urging residents to practice social distancing over the next few weeks, but what does that actually mean? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define it as the practice of staying out of mass gatherings and other congregate settings and keeping at least 6...
Travel bans, market chaos: Dizzying reaction to coronavirus spread around the world
ROME — Sweeping travel bans cascaded around the globe Thursday, walling off countries and even entire continents, keeping people inside their homes, and slowing the engines of commerce to stem the coronavirus pandemic. Markets collapsed with the growing realization that there would be no fast end to the uncertainty. After...
Businesses cut customer perks, loosen sick time rules to cope with coronavirus
Some businesses are taking extra precautions amid concerns about coronavirus. There’s the obvious — encouraging employees to stay home if they’re sick and increasing the cleaning of surfaces. But some are going steps beyond in an effort to curb the spread of the virus, which has been classified as a...
March Madness: Conferences scrap tourneys; NCAAs in doubt
The most powerful conferences in college sports canceled their men’s basketball tournaments Thursday because of the coronavirus, putting in doubt this month’s NCAA Tournament — one of the biggest events on the American sports calendar. Within minutes of each other, the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern...
