April 18, 2020 4:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The debate over testing is still going strong, even as the United States tries to move past the shutdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The country is struggling to test enough people for the coronavirus so officials can track and control the spread of the disease. That’s a crucial first step to reopening parts of the economy, as President Donald Trump is pushing to do by May 1. Trump’s plan hinges on a downward trajectory of positive tests. It’s been more than a month since he said “anybody who wants a test, can get a test.” Today, the reality on the ground is much different
April 18, 2020 3:59 am
BEIJING (AP) – Governments around the world are wrestling with when and how to lift economically painful virus-control measures as unemployment rises and rent payments come due. Many places have instituted strict restrictions on movement to try to stop the spread of a new coronavirus that has infected more than 2.2 million people and for which there is no vaccine. The debate in the U.S. has taken on political tones. Republican President Donald Trump urged supporters to “LIBERATE” three states led by Democratic governors. He tweeted the kind of rhetoric some have used to demand an end to stay-at-home orders that have thrown millions out of work.
April 18, 2020 3:57 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Democratic lawmakers want police departments to be vigilant about any racially biased policing during the coronavirus pandemic, as people in communities of color express fears of being profiled while wearing masks or other face coverings in public. Sen. Kamala Harris of California and other Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter Friday to Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray. In it they urge federal law enforcement agencies to provide anti-bias training and guidance to police officers. They say if people of color, especially African Americans, feel at risk of selective enforcement, they may not adopt the precautionary measures to avoid spreading the virus.
April 18, 2020 3:56 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – More than a dozen Iowa elected officials implored Tyson Fresh Meats to close their Waterloo pork processing plant, saying the coronavirus is spreading among workers and is endangering not only employees of the plant but the entire community. Mayors, county officials and state legislators signed the letter that was sent to Tyson on Thursday. The 19 officials said at a Friday news conference they had only received confirmation from the company that it had received the letter but no other action .The officials also accused Gov. Kim Reynolds of misleading Iowans on the seriousness of the outbreak and for failure to take action to close the plant.
April 18, 2020 3:46 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf says that Pennsylvania has managed to avoid the worst of the pandemic and it’s now time to start talking about a gradual reopening of the state’s battered economy. Wolf on Friday offered a set of guiding principles on how he plans to get legions of unemployed residents out of their homes and back to work. He says he’ll rely on an “evidence-based, regional approach” guided by health experts and economists that will help him decide when it’s safe. Wolf says more details will come next week. He adds, “There is no magic wand to wave to get us back to where we want to be.
April 17, 2020 5:20 pm
Greene County 9-1-1- dispatchers have confirmed that at least two people were injured in an accident Friday afternoon around one o’clock. Authorities say the crash, involving a tractor trailer and a box truck, was in the northbound lanes of Interstate 79 at mile marker 21 between the Ruff Creek and Marianna exits. At least two people were transported from the scene and one person was trapped in one of the vehicles. Hazmat crews were also called out to clean up a substance that was leaking from one of the trucks. There’s been no word on what caused the crash.
April 17, 2020 2:11 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania will gradually reopen its economy using a “regional, sector-based approach” and a modeling tool that will help public officials decide when it’s safe. That’s according to a plan obtained by The Associated Press ahead of its release by the governor’s office on Friday. The plan does not include a timetable or many details about the metrics that Gov. Tom Wolf and his administration will use to decide that Pennsylvania can begin emerging from the coronavirus pandemic after weeks of social distancing. Wolf plans to address the plan Friday afternoon. Wolf’s plan comes a day after President Donald Trump, pressing to restart the ravaged U.S. economy, gave governors a road map for economic recovery.
April 17, 2020 12:25 pm
Many families in need left the Canonsburg Food Bank grateful for the opportunity to pick up supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Food Bank’s “Truck to Trunk” event took place at the Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church on West Pike Street Friday morning. Cars lined up as early as 3:30 a.m. in the church parking lot, and the initial line for food extended over a mile down Pike Street. Canonsburg Mayor David Rhome said the event ran very smoothly as two lines branched off to volunteers who would place the food and other items into the trunks of the people who attended. Volunteers say they had a major amount of “walk-ins” who were not already registered with the Food Bank, who was also fulfilling the needs of the Peters Township and Finleyville Pantries, which are closed at this time. In total, Mayor Rhome says they expected to have served 600-700 families in the area throughout the morning.
April 17, 2020 9:32 am
MOSCOW (AP) – An International Space Station crew has been greeted with extra precautions due to the coronavirus after landing safely in Kazakhstan after more than 200 days in space. The Soyuz capsule carrying NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka touched down on Friday in central Kazakhstan. Russian officials took stringent measures to protect the crew members amid the pandemic. The recovery team and medical personnel assigned to help the three out of the capsule had been under close medical observation for nearly a month and tested for the new virus. Morgan wrapped up a 272-day mission on his first space flight. Meir and Skripochka spent 205 days in space.
April 17, 2020 9:31 am
LONDON (AP) – A leading public health expert said Friday that “system errors” have led to Britain having likely the highest coronavirus death rate in Europe. Anthony Costello, director of the Institute for Global Health at University College London, said the U.K. “could see 40,000 deaths” by the time the first wave of the country’s outbreak is over. Costello criticized the government for failing to test enough people for the new virus and failing to trace and isolate those who were in contact with infected individuals.. As of Thursday, 13,729 people had died in U.K. hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus. Health Secretary Matt Hancock defended the government, saying “test, track and trace” was part of its strategy.
