Got to Category

Coronavirus category, Page 80

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
White House: 500 million shots needed to vaccinate all over 16
WASHINGTON — White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients says it’s essential that Congress pass President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 relief bill to keep the momentum on vaccinations and more testing capacity to contain the virus. Zients says the administration is committed to delivering on Biden’s goal of 100 million shots...
Pennsylvania adds 5,874 covid cases, highest in a week
Pennsylvania added 5,874 additional cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, the highest number in the past week. The newly added cases from the Pennsylvania Department of Health raise the state’s total to 818,369. Of the 222 deaths newly reported Wednesday, 214 are from January, seven are from December and one is...
Excela planning for vaccine distribution when supplies become available
Excela Health plans to open coronavirus vaccination appointments to community members meeting the state’s guidelines when the health system has enough vaccine to go around. But not just yet. Dr. Carol Fox, the system’s chief medical officer, said health care workers at Excela’s three hospitals and other independent community providers...
Westmoreland County covid cases continue downward climb
Westmoreland County has added triple-digit new coronavirus cases for all but four days this month, but cases are on an overall downward trend. The county had 141 coronavirus cases and three deaths added to its totals Wednesday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The county has averaged 106 cases...
Allegheny County covid cases continue to trend lower than past months
Allegheny County added 376 new coronavirus cases to its totals on Wednesday, the second-highest total in the state, but far removed from where it stood a month ago. Allegheny’s new cases trailed only Luzerne County, which added 468, yet the numbers have declined greatly in recent weeks. Just one month...
Gov. Wolf defends moving smokers to top covid vaccine priority group
Smokers are among people included in Pennsylvania’s first priority group for the covid-19 vaccine, a move state officials tried to justify this week. Health officials announced Jan. 19 that the state would follow updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that recommended anyone aged 65 or older...
Hempfield schools preparing for possible staff vaccinations
Staff at Hempfield Area School District could be next in line to receive the covid-19 vaccine. According to a letter by Superintendent Tammy Wolicki, district leaders are working with Hayden’s Pharmacy in Youngwood to provide an opportunity for staff to receive the vaccine early next month. “We are supporting this...
U.S. boosting vaccine deliveries amid complaints of shortages 
Answering growing frustration over vaccine shortages, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the U.S. is ramping up deliveries to hard-pressed states over the next three weeks and expects to provide enough doses to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of the summer or early fall. Biden, calling the push...
Wolf frustrated with covid vaccine supply in Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday called on President Biden to speed up the covid vaccine distribution process, which has frustrated residents statewide. Wolf blamed the Trump administration for asking states to add people 65 and older to their top covid-19 vaccine priority group when there weren’t enough available doses. “The...
CDC study: Schools mostly safe to open with proper precautions
Schools operating in person have experienced scant transmission of coronavirus, particularly when proper precautions are employed, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Tuesday. The CDC researchers, who wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association, said indoor athletics have led to infections and...
Saint Vincent College staff get covid-19 vaccine as spring semester nears 
Many faculty and staff at Saint Vincent College received initial doses of the covid-19 vaccine about a week before students are set to return to campus for the spring semester. The college partnered with Mainline Pharmacy Group’s Blairsville Pharmacy on Tuesday to provide the Moderna vaccine to registered members of...
Vaccine doses coming to Pa. hospitals ‘don’t match up’ to increased demand, health leaders say
Vaccine allocations to Western Pennsylvania hospitals aren’t enough to inoculate all who are eligible, health care leaders said Tuesday. State officials last week expanded phase 1A of the distribution plan beyond health care workers and long-term care residents – to include people older than 65 and people with various health...
Westmoreland County sees lowest number of new reported covid cases since October
There were 52 new covid-19 cases reported in Westmoreland County on Tuesday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. That number represents the lowest amount of new reported cases this month and the least since Oct. 11, when 52 cases were also reported. Tuesday’s figures bring the seven-day covid case...
Covid hospitalizations in Pa. have dropped for almost a week
The number of covid-19 patients hospitalized in Pennsylvania has decreased every day over the past six days, according to state Department of Health data. There were 3,790 covid-19 patients hospitalized in the state on Tuesday, dropping by almost 100 from 3,887 on Monday. The biggest drop came Jan. 22, when...
New Allegheny County covid case averages compare to November numbers
Allegheny County on Tuesday reported 282 new covid-19 cases and one new death, according to the county Health Department. These new reported figures bring the seven-day case average (371) and seven-day case count (2,597) to the lowest the statistics have been since mid-November. Patients hospitalized for covid-19 in Allegheny County...
Wisconsin lawmakers to vote on repealing governor’s mask mandate
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Senate planned to vote Tuesday on repealing Gov. Tony Evers’ statewide mask mandate, while it remained unclear whether the Assembly would follow suit as required to undo the order. A joint resolution cosponsored by 29 Republicans in the Legislature was up for approval in...
Covid grants awarded to Westmoreland fire, EMS companies
Additional covid relief money is headed to Westmoreland County emergency medical service companies and volunteer fire departments left out of previous funding rounds last year. County commissioners have approved more than $600,000 in grants, including $343,500 to 16 fire companies and $60,000 to four rescue units, to cover coronavirus-related expenses...
U.K. eyes quarantine hotels for travelers to curb variants
LONDON — Britain appears ready to order some travelers arriving from abroad to isolate in hotels at their own expense in an attempt to stop the import of new virus variants. Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said there would be an announcement Tuesday on plans for tighter border measures. The BBC...
Catholic middle schoolers in Beaver move to online learning for a week
Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh officials announced Monday that middle schoolers in St. Peter and Paul School in Beaver will learn all online this week as a result of a staff member testing positive for the coronavirus. Officials said having sixth, seventh and eighth graders go virtual was out of an...
Minnesota case marks 1st detection of Brazil covid variant
MINNEAPOLIS — A new Brazilian variant of the coronavirus has made its first known appearance in the United States in a person who recently returned to Minnesota after traveling to Brazil, state health officials announced Monday. The Brazil P.1 variant was found in a specimen from a patient who lives...
Covid-19 vaccine theft charge dismissed against Texas doctor 
HOUSTON — A judge on Monday dismissed a theft charge against a Houston area health department doctor who had been accused by prosecutors of stealing nine doses of coronavirus vaccine from a damaged vial and administering them to family and friends. Authorities had alleged that Hasan Gokal, who worked for...
Covid contact tracing still challenging in Pennsylvania
Contact tracing remains a challenge in Pennsylvania, officials said Monday. From Jan. 10 to Jan. 16, only 18% of the 46,708 covid cases reported had a case investigation started within 24 hours, according to the Department of Health. An additional 5% had a case investigation started within 48 hours. “We...
Covid cases continue to drop in Pennsylvania, fewer deaths starting to follow
With new coronavirus cases on the decline in Pennsylvania, a report from the state Department of Health shows covid-related deaths are also beginning to slow slightly. Over the past two days, the state added 7,910 new cases of covid-19 — a 21% drop from the same two-day period last week,...
Westmoreland County reports fewer new covid cases, deaths
Westmoreland County added 213 new covid-19 cases over the past two days, according to a report Monday from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The two-day total — from cases added Sunday and Monday — were just one less than last week’s report (214). It’s the lowest Sunday-Monday tally since Nov....
California lifts virus stay-at-home orders, curfew statewide
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lifted regional stay-at-home orders across the state Monday in response to improving coronavirus conditions, returning the state to a system of county-by-county restrictions, state health officials announced. The order had been in place in the San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, covering...


Editor's Picks

Front Porch Theatricals’ musical ‘Baby’ is a labor of love

Washington townhouse on the market for $1,225,000
Folk legend Bruce Cockburn gives uplifting performance at City Winery
‘Champagne & Chapeaux’: Westmoreland Symphony’s annual soiree for a good cause
Jimmy Stewart’s P-51 Mustang stops in hometown for museum anniversary
More Editor's Picks >