July 17, 2020 2:44 am
HARRISBURG (AP) – The state released updated guidance on Thursday to help Pre-K to 12 schools prepare to reopen and safely educate students for in-person learning. It was announced by Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine and Education Secretary Pedro Rivera. Each school entity will determine if classes resume in person, remotely or a combination of both options, according to the state.
- Masks must be worn by students and staff at school and on the bus as required by the order signed by Sec. of Health Dr. Levine on July 1, with some exceptions. Masks can be removed to eat or drink.
- Students or caregivers should do a daily symptom screening before leaving for school.
- Students, teachers and other staff are strongly encouraged to follow social distancing throughout the day with 6 feet of separation between desks and other seating.
- If possible, hold classes in gyms, auditoriums, other large spaces or outdoors, where physical distancing can be maintained.
- Student seating should be facing in the same direction.
- Limit student interactions by staggering class times, creating one-way walking patterns in hallways, and, when feasible, keeping students in a classroom and rotating teachers instead.
- For breakfast and lunch, consider serving individually packaged meals in classrooms and avoid across-the-table seating. If meals are served in a cafeteria, sit students at least 6 feet apart.
- Limit the number of students on playgrounds at one time and encourage social distancing.
- Encourage the use of virtual gatherings, events, and extracurricular activities.
The guidance for school sports is unchanged. Coaches, athletes, and spectators must wear masks unless they can maintain 6 feet of separation outdoors. Athletes can remove masks during a workout or competition.
July 16, 2020 5:48 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The federal ban on cruise ships operating in U.S. territory is being extended through September. The ban was due to expire next week, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the extension on Thursday. The move comes as coronavirus cases are rising in 40 states. Florida, where many cruises start, just had a single-day record of deaths from COVID-19. Major cruise lines that belong to an industry trade group had already canceled sailings until Sept. 15 because of ongoing discussions with federal officials over how to restart operations safely. The companies are trying to save cash and borrow more money to survive the pandemic.
July 16, 2020 12:53 pm
GLEN JEAN, W.Va. (AP) – The Boy Scouts of America have postponed next year’s National Jamboree due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. The organization shared its disappointment about cancelling the quadrennial event for 2021 on its website. The announcement says the pandemic’s persistence and unpredictability make it impossible for the Boy Scouts to comply with their “Be Prepared” motto. The Jamboree had been expected to run from July 21-30, 2021 at Summit Bechtel in West Virginia, where nearly 40,000 scouts gathered in 2017. Officials say a task force will be appointed to recommend a new date.
July 16, 2020 4:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is comparing President Donald Trump to “the man who refuses to ask for directions.” She is pleading with the White House to seek input from the nation’s scientific leaders to reverse the rise in coronavirus cases and deaths. Tensions are rising as Congress considers the next virus relief package with no apparent endgame in sight to the pandemic that now threatens longer-term economic and societal turmoil that first envisioned. Senate Republicans are poised to come out with their next COVID-19 aid bill as early as next week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is readying the GOP’s $1 trillion package, a counteroffer to the $3 trillion proposal that House Democrats approved in May.
July 16, 2020 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s plans for a grand convention keep shrinking. The Republican National Committee says it’s sharply restricting attendance on three of the four nights of its convention in Jacksonville, Florida, next month as coronavirus cases are spiking in the state. Party leader Ronna McDaniel says only the roughly 2,500 regular delegates to the convention will be permitted to attend the first three nights. Delegates, their guests and alternate delegates will be allowed for the final night, Aug. 27, when Trump is set to deliver his acceptance speech. The GOP moved the convention from Charlotte, North Carolina, after Charlotte officials ruled out a full-capacity crowd because of the pandemic.
July 16, 2020 4:07 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Hospital data related to the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. will now be collected by a private technology firm, rather than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Trump administration says the move will speed up reporting, and the CDC director said Wednesday that he’s fine with the change. But some public health leaders fear it will further sideline the agency. Department of Health and Human Services officials recently posted a document on the agency’s website that redirected hospitals’ daily reporting of a range of data meant to assess the impact of the coronavirus on them. TeleTracking Technologies, based in Pittsburgh, will now collect that information.
July 16, 2020 4:06 am
BEIJING (AP) – China has become the first major economy to grow since the start of the coronavirus pandemic after anti-virus lockdowns were lifted and factories and stores reopened. The world’s second-largest economy expanded by 3.2% over a year earlier in the quarter ending in June. That was a dramatic improvement over the previous quarter’s 6.8% contraction that was China’s worst performance since at least the mid-1960s. But it still was the weakest positive figure since China started reporting quarterly growth in the early 1990s. China, where the coronavirus pandemic began in December, was the first economy to shut down and the first to start the drawn-out process of recovery in March after the ruling Communist Party declared the disease under control.
July 16, 2020 4:05 am
Unidentified hackers have broken into the Twitter accounts of technology moguls, politicians, celebrities and major companies in an apparent Bitcoin scam. The ruse discovered Wednesday included bogus tweets from Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg and a number of tech billionaires including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The fake tweets offered to send $2,000 for every $1,000 sent to a bitcoin address. Twitter said it was aware of a “security incident impacting accounts on Twitter” and was working to fix it. The FBI also said it was aware of Twitter’s security breach, but declined further comment.
July 16, 2020 4:03 am
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) – A U.S. judge has halted the execution of a federal death row inmate whose lawyers argue suffers from dementia. Wesley Ira Purkey was scheduled to be the second inmate executed by the government this week after a 17-year hiatus. A judge in Washington, D.C., imposed two injunctions Wednesday, and an appeals court panel upheld one of them Wednesday night. But the Supreme Court has still to be heard from, and the execution still might proceed. Purkey’s lawyers say he can no longer grasp why he’s slated to die. Purkey, of Lansing, Kansas, was convicted of the 1998 killing of a girl in Kansas City, Missouri.
July 16, 2020 4:02 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Target and CVS Health have joined the list of the nation’s largest retailers that will require customers to wear masks as cases of COVID-19 spike. Target’s policy will go into effect Aug. 1., while CVS’s rule will start Monday. More than 80% of Target’s 1,800 stores already require customers to wear masks due to local and state regulations. Target said Thursday that it will hand out masks at entrances to those who need them. The nation’s largest retailer, Walmart, announced this week that masks would be mandatory in all stores starting Monday. Starbucks, Best Buy, Kohl’s and Kroger Co. also have put mandatory face shield rules in place.
