Coronavirus category, Page 249

Pennsylvania’s 14 state universities are facing a severe financial hit because they won’t resume in-person classes for the last half of the spring semester because of the coronavirus. The State System of Higher Education is projecting a loss of $100 million in total for the universities, due to refunding tens...

Pennsylvanians facing dental emergencies can once again see their dentists or an oral surgeon. After consulting with leaders in organized dentistry, the Pennsylvania State Department of Health has reversed its decision ordering all dental offices to stop performing emergency procedure during the covid-19 crisis. “These updated guidelines are effective immediately,”...

Major League Baseball and sports apparel maker Fanatics are combining efforts to produce hospital gowns and protective masks out of the material used to make uniforms. The top provider of MLB hats, jerseys and other merchandise has converted its Easton factory to produce the protective gear for health care professionals...

“Well, you know I’m graduating this semester. This may be the last time I see you.” So said one of my students somberly at the end of class last week. Typically, that’s a goodbye I hear in mid-May, not mid-March. It came in response to a campuswide email announcing that...

NEW YORK — The number of people around the world who have contracted the coronavirus has surged past 535,000, and the United States tops the list, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally. U.S. deaths have now topped 1,200, in another grim update for a global outbreak that has wreaked...

The Army Corps of Engineers’ Pittsburgh District has begun evaluating possible alternate medical sites that would be used in the event hospitals are overrun treating patients with covid-19. The number of covid-19 cases in Western Pennsylvania has not stretched medical systems to the point where more space is needed to...

There have been 1,614 covid-19 tests performed on Allegheny County residents to date, with the bulk of those tests performed during the past week, according to figures released by the Allegheny County Health Department on Thursday. That figure includes testing performed by health care providers, as well as community testing...

Greensburg council will meet Friday to make the city’s coronavirus emergency declaration official. Mayor Robert Bell declared a state of emergency last week, but council is required by law to vote to ratify the declaration. Bell said Friday’s 10 a.m. meeting is expected to be brief. The emergency declaration is...

Westmoreland County transit officials will further reduce commuter and local bus service starting March 30. Ridership has dropped about 80% over the last two weeks amid the coronavirus pandemic, Transit Authority Executive Director Alan Blahovec said Thursday. All non-life sustaining businesses in the state have been ordered closed, resulting in...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that federal officials are developing guidelines to rate counties by risk of virus spread, as he aims to begin to ease nationwide guidelines meant to stem the coronavirus outbreak. In a letter to the nation’s governors, Trump said the new guidelines are meant...

There are still some businesses hiring as the covid-19 pandemic continues to devastate the labor market. Foremost are retail jobs like those at Giant Eagle. The O’Hara-based grocery chain has been busy and it is working to offer temporary jobs to those who have been impacted by the shutdown. Giant...

About 500 nonessential Westmoreland County government employees will be furloughed on April 3, county commissioners said Thursday. The layoffs come as county officials deal with balancing vital government functions during the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing budgetary concerns complicated by large overtime payments doled out to essential employees who were required...

Pennsylvania has seen almost 650,000 new claims for unemployment compensation in less than two weeks — an indication of just how hard the governor’s order closing non-life-sustaining businesses and its ripple effect has slammed the state’s economy. Gov. Tom Wolf said he expects the figure to climb to 800,000 through...

Gov. Tom Wolf said he will spend up to $50 million to get equipment into the hands of medical workers to help fight the continued spread of the coronavirus. “We’re not fighting a battle here, we’re fighting a war,” Wolf said Thursday. “We need to do everything we can to...

The commander of the 911th Airlift Wing in Moon has modified base operations because of covid-19. The 911th, adjacent to the Pittsburgh International Airport, will allow service members to work remotely, limit access to the base and limit off-base travel to essential needs, according to a news release. There are...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that federal officials are developing guidelines to rate counties by risk of virus spread, as he aims to begin to ease nationwide guidelines meant to stem the coronavirus outbreak. In a letter to the nation’s governors, Trump said the new guidelines are meant...

Cities began shutting down. Schools were closed. The government began limiting public activities to curtail the spread of the virus. That describes the atmosphere over the past few weeks as covid-19 spread rapidly across the globe, creating a multitude of fears that were seemingly unfathomable. But people had the same...

Penn Hills announced Wednesday it would lay off 57 full- and part-time employees – including school crossing guards, library staff and senior center workers – in response to pressures experienced during the coronavirus pandemic. “Having to place dedicated personnel onto layoff status was not a good day for Penn Hills,”...

A study of 33 pregnant women in China who were infected with the new coronavirus found that three of them gave birth to babies with COVID-19. All three infants survived after receiving treatment for their symptoms, doctors reported Thursday in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics. One of those infants was...