The national outbreak is escalating sharply, and deaths are at their highest levels since April and May. Video of an elderly Italian serenading his dying wife from a hospital courtyard is enchanting the internet.
Los Angeles County announced a new stay-home order Friday as coronavirus cases surge out of control in the nation’s most populous county.
The three-week order takes effect Monday. It came as the county confirmed 24 new deaths and 4,544 new cases of COVID-19. The five-day average of new cases was 4,751.
Nearly 2,000 people in the county are hospitalized.“We know we are asking a lot from so many who have been sacrificing for months on end,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “Acting with collective urgency right now is essential if we want to put a stop to this surge.”The order advises residents to stay home “as much as possible” and to wear a face covering when they go out. It bans people from gathering with people who aren’t in their households, whether publicly or privately.
Coach Mike Tomlin canceled practice for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday as the team awaits a decision from the NFL on whether the game Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens will be played.
The game is in danger of being postponed for a second time because of the coronavirus outbreak in the Ravens locker room.
Since Sept. 19, the number of residents testing positive stands at 152; the number of staff with positive test results has reached 60, according to Assistant Administrator Abby Testa. Six residents have died of covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic.
Westmoreland County set a new daily record for cases on Wednesday, when 273 new coronavirus cases were added. In the past 15 days, the county has seen more covid cases (2,728) than all of October and September combined (2,657).
The county saw another seven covid-related deaths added on Wednesday — setting a new record seven-day total of 41 deaths. To date, Westmoreland has seen 179 fatalities because of the coronavirus.
The Steelers-Ravens game that was set to air on Channel 11 on Thanksgiving has been postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak among the Baltimore players and staff.
GREENSBURG, Pa. —A Greensburg restaurant owner is continuing her mission to adapt to changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.Lisa Hegedus has owned Caffe Barista for 23 years. This year, she was forced to adapt quickly when the coronavirus pandemic hit in March.
“We developed a box meal program, we delivered to all essential workers and offered curbside pickup,” Hegedus said.
The business is located across the street from the Westmoreland County Courthouse and has always relied on foot traffic. With her catering business taking a hit, Hegedus focused more on getting individual meals to customers.
“You have to pivot your business,” Hegedus said. “If you don’t look at the way things are happening around you and adapt to them, you’re not going to stay open.”
Now, Hegedus is planning to pivot again with an indoor farmers market in her store, starting early next year. The goal is for customers to be able to pick up fresh produce and dairy products, while still offering the food and beverages customers are used to.
“We’re just adding a new dimension to what we already offer. It brings more people into town shopping at all the other businesses,” Hegedus said. “We’re very thankful for everything, for all of our customers the 23 years we’ve been here, and hopefully another 23 more.”
Hegedus said work on the new setup is set to get underway soon, with the goal of having the farmers market open in the early months of 2021.
Europe remained the biggest global contributor to new Covid-19 cases and deaths in the past week, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, despite signs that stricter measures against the spread of the virus are starting to have an impact.
(CNN)Europe remained the biggest global contributor to new Covid-19 cases and deaths in the past week, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, despite signs that stricter measures against the spread of the virus are starting to have an impact.
The European region accounted for 44% of global new cases and 49% of global new deaths in the past week, according to the latest weekly WHO report, released Tuesday.
While the number of new cases in the region is declining on a weekly basis, the number of deaths is still rising, with 32,684 new fatalities reported in the previous seven days.
This update comes as countries across the continent grapple with how to allow people to celebrate upcoming holidays, including Christmas, and mitigate the economic pain to businesses while countering the pandemic.
China has increased the testing of frozen foods after the country said it has repeatedly discovered the coronavirus on imported products and their packaging,
The most recent instance saw frozen shrimp imported from an Ecuadorian company banned for one week on Tuesday
Studies have shown the virus can survive for a time on cardboard and plastic containers, but it remains unclear how serious a risk that poses.
FAST FACTS
Packaging first became a major issue with outbreaks in China linked to wholesale food markets
China pushed back against the U.S. which has questioned whether the country’s crackdown is scientifically based
Studies have shown the virus can survive for a time on cardboard and plastic containers, but it remains unclear how serious a risk that poses.
PITTSBURGH —Thanksgiving looks a little bit different this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shoppers at Waterworks Market District in Pittsburgh grabbed turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie filling, but they also got items such as toilet paper and paper towels that are in high demand.Giant Eagle workers said last-minute holiday shoppers, combined with what they call “panic shoppers” because of the COVID-19 pandemic, could create an increase of shoppers in grocery stores.
But they said workers are strictly following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, have put safety measures in place such as plexiglass shields, and are using alternate vendors to keep what shoppers need on hand.
“Going into these busy winter months, we were prepared, and we have everything our guests need to feel safe and secure and stocked up in their homes,” Giant Eagle spokesperson Jannah Jablonowski said.
Many people said they are having smaller turkey dinners because they are celebrating with just their immediate family to stop the spread of coronavirus.
“We tried to plan ahead for that. We figured we would get a lot of those smaller sized frozen and fresh turkeys, stock up on those breasts and just make sure we have a lot of options across the store,” said Jablonowski.
Other shoppers are changing the menu altogether.
“Doing something a little different. We’re going to have London broil for Thanksgiving dinner,” shopper Harvey Adams said.
Some shoppers are buying prepared meals for minimal work in the kitchen.
Giant Eagle said that, along with sanitizing carts between uses, the store is also hiring more workers, especially with its curbside service picking up because of the pandemic.
Somerset Area School District Superintendent Krista Mathias reported on Friday that officials learned about four new positive COVID-19 cases in the district.
“All students and employees who were close contacts of the affected individuals have been notified and quarantined accordingly,” she wrote in an email.
As a result, the entire district will be closed for 14 days. School will resume on Dec. 7, barring additional cases or directives from the state.
All students will be learning remotely Monday and Tuesday of next week, as well as on Dec. 1-4.
Mathias said that she is in contact with state health officials each time a case is reported. Thorough cleanings and other precautions are part of the mitigation efforts.
The Allegheny County Health Department has ordered two Pittsburgh nightclubs to close for violating coronavirus-related regulations.PITTSBURGH, PA — The Allegheny County Health Department has shut down two Pittsburgh nightclubs for multiple violations of state and county coronavirus mandates. Ordered closed for at least seven days were Tilden on Liberty Avenue in the Downtown Cultural District and Bridgez on Arlington Avenue in the South Side Slopes.
The specter of another COVID-19 shutdown is looming over Los Angeles County, as another record-high number of daily coronavirus cases Monday pushed the region over its self-set threshold for issuing a new stay-at-home order.
When such an order will be handed down, or what precise form it will take, is unclear — though the county director of public health, Barbara Ferrer, said Monday that “for sure we’re not going back to all of the restrictions that were in place in the original Safer at Home order.
“We’ll be working with the Board [of Supervisors] to determine additional safety modifications,” she said, describing the new health order as a “targeted Safer-at-Home order.”
New York City subway riders were fuming Saturday over the utter lack of social distancing on a very packed train, video shows.
Dozens of straphangers were already squeezed “like sardines” inside an N train when it pulled into the Lexington 59th street station around 5:00 p.m., according to the footage.
Some riders jammed into the car — but one outraged woman asked “What the f–k distance is this? They’re squeezing like sardines.”
“It’s because MTA don’t give a f–k about the people,” said a man standing outside the overflowing train doors.
“The MTA is running as much service as we can with the crews we have available,” MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said in a statement.
In a devastating blow to Los Angeles’ struggling restaurant industry, L.A. County public health officials on Sunday announced they will suspend outdoor dining at restaurants amid a surge of new coronavirus cases.
Customers dine in the Hollywood Riviera area of Redondo Beach. L.A. County has suspend outdoor dining Sunday due to the rise in coronavirus cases. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Few segments of the L.A. retail economy have been hit harder by the pandemic than the once-booming dining world, with many landmark names closing in recent months and many more on the brink. After they were forced to close indoor dining rooms in the spring, many eateries got a lifeline when officials allowed them to serve outdoors, often in patios and makeshift dining halls built in parking lots and streets.
The new rule takes effect at 10 p.m. Wednesday and restricts restaurants — along with breweries, wineries and bars — to takeout and delivery only for the first time since May. It will remain in place for at least three weeks, officials said.
Wineries and breweries can continue retail operations.
“The persistent high number of cases requires additional safety measures that limit mixing in settings where people are not wearing masks,” Barbara Ferrer, the L.A. County health director, said in a statement.
Officials had warned earlier in the week that the new rule would be imposed if the five-day average of new cases reached 4,000, or if hospitalizations topped 1,750 per day.
“Don tested positive at the start of the week and has been quarantining out at his cabin since the result,” the spokesman said. “He’s been completely asymptomatic so far and is following all medically recommended COVID-19 guidelines.”
NORTH VERSAILLES, Pa. — Channel 4 Action News Investigates has learned more than a half-million Pennsylvanians who applied for unemployment during the pandemic have still not been able to get it.For some, long waits for benefits have become long waits to appeal the denial of benefit
John Roman of North Versailles was laid off from his job as a school bus driver in March.Action News Investigates first told his story in April, when he was struggling to get benefits.”You can’t get through. Keep getting busy signals. I tried like four or five hours in one day,” Roman said at the time.
Eventually, the checks started coming. But in June, his case took a twist.The state Department of Labor and Industry sent him a letter saying he was ineligible for benefits and ordering him to pay back $3,000.The reason? The state said Roman took a leave of absence.But medical records show he was hospitalized for acute illness — pneumonia and COPD.So Roman filed an appeal, saying the state decision was incorrect. That was five months ago.
Asked what happened since then, Roman said: “Nothing. Nothing at all.”He’s called the state unemployment office repeatedly. He contacted his state legislator.”Mine’s at the bottom of the pile, I guess,” Roman said.In August, he finally got a callback from the state unemployment office.
An official left a voicemail message saying: “We have received the appeal information however it was not under review so that was a mistake on our part. You should receive information from us soon as again I have escalated this matter to a supervisor.”But Roman did not get a hearing until Monday, nearly three months after he received that voicemail message.”It’s wrong,” Roman said.In yet another twist, Roman was approved for unemployment after first being denied. But the state has been deducting the money he allegedly owes from the amount he is supposed to be collecting, leaving him with virtually nothing.”I could never understand their system,” Roman said.
Top state unemployment officials would not discuss specifics of Roman’s case but they were surprised when Action News Investigates told them how long he’s been waiting for his appeal.
“I do know the appeals office is still on time with everything so depending on the timing of when that was requested and what the actual circumstances are, that probably has a lot to do with it,” said Susan Dickinson, director of unemployment policy.
“John is emblematic of so many people who are so frustrated with the system and don’t know where to turn for help,” said Barney Oursler of the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee.
Oursler reached out to help Roman after seeing his initial story. He said the state made a mistake and Roman deserves to be paid.But even Oursler, who helped thousands of unemployed steelworkers in the 1980s, has hit a wall with Harrisburg.
“The system is failing people and that’s the frustration people have,” Oursler said.State officials said 32% of all Pennsylvanians filing unemployment claims during the pandemic — about 600,000 people — have been rejected.
There have been about 43,000 appeals filed.Five months after filing his appeal, Roman said he hopes he can finally get an answer.”It’s been very frustrating. There’s times I just lay down and close my eyes, is it a dream or is it reality? I’m finding out it’s reality,” Roman said.
The Diocese of Greensburg will televise Christmas Masses this season in addition to holding in-person services, to engage parishioners at home amid concern over a strong resurgence in coronavirus cases throughout the region.
“The Diocese and its parishes have consistently had thousands of faithful viewers watch our streaming Masses from their computers, tablets and smart televisions for many months now,” said Monsignor Larry Kulick.
The diocese streams Masses on its website, Facebook page and YouTube channel, and Christmas Vigil and Christmas Day Masses will premiere on those outlets as well, but it will also be broadcast on the Pittsburgh Cable News Channel.
A Christmas Vigil at Greensburg’s Blessed Sacrament Cathedral will be broadcast at 2 p.m., Dec. 24. Kulick will celebrate a 10 a.m. Mass on Christmas Day.
The diocese began reopening for in-person services on June 1. Kulick said 50 of 78 parishes in the diocese now stream Mass services, “however there are still many in our community who cannot access the internet … I hope these televised Masses will provide an opportunity for us to engage individuals and families celebrating the birth of Jesus with them in their own homes.”
In the past 30 days, Westmoreland County has seen its worst surge in coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic.
The county added 187 cases Sunday and 167 on Monday. Of those, were confirmed through PCR tests.
Los Angeles County officials on Tuesday announced strict new coronavirus restrictions — including a 10 p.m. curfew on businesses — in an effort to combat spiking coronavirus cases.
Beginning on Friday, restaurants, bars and non-essential retail businesses will be required to close between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl told local outlet KNBC-TV.
Gatherings will also be limited to no more than 15 people from a maximum of three households, county officials said.
Other measures will include a 50 percent capacity limit for outdoor dining service and a 25 percent capacity limit for businesses allowed to operate indoors, including retail stores, offices and personal care services.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine says there are “no plans” at this time to reinstate the color-coded coronavirus restrictions the state saw earlier in the pandemic.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine says there are “no plans” at this time to reinstate the color-coded coronavirus restrictions the state saw earlier in the pandemic.
At Dr. Levine’s weekly media briefing Monday, she addressed the rising rate of infections across the state. Statewide percent positivity for last week is at 9.6%, compared to 6.9% the week before. Sixty-two of the 67 counties have positivity rates above 5%, including Allegheny County, which stands at 7.7%,
According to Dr. Levine, the new cases are connected to community spread, meaning someone gets the virus without any known contact with a sick person.
With cases here and across the state rising to their highest levels, Dr. Levine says it’s our collective responsibility to stop this community spread and bring those numbers back under control.
“We can answer the call to prevent the spread of this virus COVID-19,” she says.
Dr. Levine says it’s up to the public to voluntarily answer the call, wear masks, social distance and avoid gatherings large and small — regardless of your political leanings.
“Now that the election is over and the people have spoken, we need to stand united about these simple public health measures. This is not a political issue. This is not a partisan issue. This is an urgent public health issue in Pennsylvania,” she says.
The new cases — 89 confirmed and 49 probable — bring the county’s total to 5,431, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
The county’s previous of 148 was set on Oct. 15. It’s also the second straight day with more than 100 new cases.
Six new deaths were reported, bringing the county’s total to 129. It’s the third time the county’s high of six deaths has been reported, following May 18 and Oct. 29. The county’s death rate per 100,000 people rose from 35.1 to 36.8.
Wednesday’s PCR test positivity rate — the percentage of PCR tests that come back positive — in Westmoreland County was 19.78%.
Trailblazing Pittsburgh news anchor and host Eleanor Schano has died of COVID-19, according to her daughter.
Schano’s career in broadcasting spanned over five decades, including at WTAE Channel 4, where she was Pittsburgh’s first female general assignment reporter, starting in the late 1950s.
Schano also went on to become the first woman to solo anchor TV news in Pittsburgh.
Schano was Pittsburgh’s first female commercial announcer and the first female weathercaster.
SCRANTON, Pa. — Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed a bill that would have required county coroners to investigate COVID-19 deaths. Though it would make for quite a bit of work for the coroners, many of them supported the bill which passed with bipartisan support.
Lackawanna County Coroner Tim Rowland is one of many county coroners across the state who have called for a change in state law, which would require doctors to report COVID-19 deaths to the coroners and then require the county coroners to investigate and keep track of data regarding those deaths.
In the governor’s veto announcement, he wrote that the current reporting system works faster without including county coroners. That’s something he and the coroners completely disagree on.
We reached out to the governor’s office for comment, but we have not heard back.
Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Pennsylvania’s county coroners have been at odds with Gov. Wolf and the Department of Health on how COVID-19 deaths should be reported.
The coroners gathered support from Democrats and Republicans in Harrisburg to change state law and require coroners to document and investigate each COVID-19 death.
The governor vetoed the bill last week. In a statement, Gov. Wolf wrote that doctors should report those deaths electronically and directly to the Department of Health.
But Lycoming County Coroner Charles Kiessling says that system puts the public health at risk.
“Those systems lag, as we’ve seen early on in this pandemic,” Kiessling said. “It can be days to weeks before those deaths are reported and show up in the electronic systems. And that’s a problem when someone’s had a contact, and we’ve not been notified and made sure that testing is done.”
Some coroners have been maintaining death data anyway, even though they weren’t required to.
Lackawanna County Coroner Tim Rowland says his data is often more accurate than the state’s.
“I’m not sure if the governor and the Department of Health are trying to control the data, manipulate the data. God only knows,” Rowland said. “I think the governor did a great job in protecting Pennsylvania, you know, as far as the mask-wearing, social distancing, and regulating bars, restaurants. I think they did a good job, and I think the results show it. But I think the governor, unfortunately, and the Department of Health, in this matter, are out of touch with reality.”
Utah’s governor declared a new state of emergency late Sunday after the state’s most devastating week of the pandemic, as COVID-19 infections skyrocketed and deaths hit new highs. His big concern is the surge in hospitalizations that may soon overwhelm doctors and nurses.
Gov. Gary Herbert issued a series of new restrictions, including a statewide mask mandate — a step he has resisted for months.
Unlike other restrictions, the governor intends to extend the mask mandate “for the foreseeable future.” Businesses that fail to comply will face fines.
The new executive orders are signed by Herbert and by Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, who is the governor-elect. They limit any social gatherings to people in the same households and place a hold on all school extracurricular activities, including athletic and intramural events.
These restrictions take effect at 1 p.m. Monday and will end Nov. 23, just a few days before Thanksgiving. The governor said the state will offer holiday recommendations in the coming days.
This order doesn’t require any business to close, but businesses and event hosts must require social distancing.
More masks, more tests, more scientists: Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election will flip the United States’ coronavirus pandemic response to what doctors and scientists hope will be a long-overdue, full-throated, nationally coordinated effort that will save lives.
But the president-elect is being handed an unprecedented health crisis with no easy fixes. On his predecessor’s watch, the coronavirus infected upwards of 9 million Americans and killed more than 237,000. Access to a vaccine is likely months away. Public confidence in federal health agencies has eroded.
Cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are surging across the country, more than two months before Biden will take office.And despite winning the election, Biden will need to persuade the 70 million-plus people who voted for Trump to accept his more aggressive strategy to combat the pandemic.
Any COVID relief funding he’ll want to pass to boost the economy will depend on a deeply divided Congress, with control of the Senate resting in the hands of Georgia voters in a double runoff in January.But with Biden in charge, the country at least has a chance of containing the outbreak, according to medical experts. They expect to see a night-and-day difference between him and President Donald Trump, who told the world not to fear the virus even when he was infected with it.
The Trump administration’s strategy consisted mostly of banking on a vaccine while giving up on preventing or slowing infections, flouting the guidance of his own top federal health officials.In contrast, Biden “respects scientists, he respects doctors,” Eric Topol, a cardiologist at the Scripps Translational Science Institute, told BuzzFeed News. “That’s something that will be refreshing, for sure.”
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that he acted before infection rates reached the levels seen in many neighboring countries because, after years of financial crises that have damaged its health system, it couldn’t afford to wait as long to impose restrictions as others had.
“We must stop this wave,” Mitsotakis said. “I chose once again to take drastic measures sooner rather than later.”
The Steelers-Ravens game that was set to air on Channel 11 on Thanksgiving has been postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak among the Baltimore players and staff.
PITTSBURGH, PA — The Allegheny County Health Department has shut down two Pittsburgh nightclubs for multiple violations of state and county coronavirus mandates. Ordered closed for at least seven days were Tilden on Liberty Avenue in the Downtown Cultural District and Bridgez on Arlington Avenue in the South Side Slopes.
Mayor Bill de Blasio is warning that all five boroughs of New York City could be put back under lockdown after Thanksgiving.
NORTH VERSAILLES, Pa. — Channel 4 Action News Investigates has learned more than a half-million Pennsylvanians who applied for unemployment during the pandemic have still not been able to get it.For some, long waits for benefits have become long waits to appeal the denial of benefit
With the unsettling rise in Coronavirus cases, are we here in Western Pennsylvania about to face tighter restrictions?
Sweden appears to be changing tack and implementing stricter measures as a second wave of infections takes hold and hospitalizations rise.
PITTSBURGH —
