April 16, 2020 7:50 am
BANGKOK (AP) – Japan’s prime minister is planning to expand a state of emergency to the entire country from just Tokyo and other urban areas as the coronavirus continues to spread. Shinzo Abe convened a meeting of experts Thursday to receive approval for the proclamation. Abe declared a state of emergency on April 7 that covers just Tokyo and six other prefectures deemed at highest risk. In other developments in Asia, China denied allegations that the pandemic originated in a laboratory where contagious samples were stored. South Korea’s ruling party won parliamentary elections with a high turnout despite the virus.
April 16, 2020 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is citing the coronavirus outbreak as he threatens unprecedented action- adjourning both houses of Congress – to entice the Senate to approve more of his nominees. In recent years, Congress has refused to fully adjourn during most breaks precisely to prevent the president from making recess appointments. Little or no business is conducted in such “pro-forma sessions,” but they give members of both chambers of Congress the chance to go back home without going into recess. It’s a process lawmakers also employed to thwart President Barack Obama’s nominees. Trump says he’s had enough.
April 16, 2020 4:18 am
Ten nurses have been suspended from their jobs at a Santa Monica, California, hospital after refusing to care for COVID-19 patients without being provided protective N95 face masks. One of those nurses, Mike Gulick, says the decision was heart-wrenching, but after a colleague tested positive for the infection, he felt he had to take a stand. Other nurses Tuesday protested what they said was inadequate personal protective equipment at a hospital in Fresno, California, where 10 nurses have tested positive for the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19.
April 16, 2020 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – New White House guidelines outline a phased approach to restoring normal commerce and services, but only for places with strong testing and seeing a decrease in COVID-19 cases. President Donald Trump unveiled his administration’s plans to ease social distancing requirements on a call Thursday with the nation’s governors. The new guidelines are aimed at clearing the way for an easing of restrictions in areas with low transmission of the coronavirus, while keeping them in place in harder-hit places. Places with declining infections and strong testing would begin a three-phased gradual reopening of businesses and schools, with each phase lasting at least 14 days.
April 16, 2020 4:10 am
MCKEES ROCKS, Pa. (AP) – A driver who crashed his car near a police station in western Pennsylvania had been shot in the chest shortly before the accident occurred. Authorities say the crash in McKees Rocks occurred shortly before midnight Tuesday. Officers found the 24-year-old man inside the vehicle, which had struck a utility pole. He was taken to a hospital and was listed in critical condition, but his name and further details on his injuries were not disclosed. A motive for the shooting remains under investigation. It wasn’t clear if the man was shot while driving or before he entered the vehicle.
April 16, 2020 4:07 am
No injuries after a tractor trailer crashed Wednesday night. Washington County 9-1-1 dispatchers tell WJPA is happened just after 9:30 p.m. along Interstate 70 Eastbound near mile-marker 24 in South Strabane Township. The tractor trailer went off the side of the roadway and ended up on its side. It was hauling dry goods. Emergency responders had to help the unidentified driver from the vehicle but he was not injured. No other vehicles were involved. Traffic is again flowing normally along the Interstate in that area.
April 16, 2020 2:28 am
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf on Wednesday announced that he has issued an order requiring employees and customers of businesses that are currently operating in the state to wear masks inside the establishments. The order goes into effect Sunday night at eight o’clock. Wolf says anyone who does not have a mask on will be denied entry. He says the only exceptions will be those who have medical conditions that prohibits them from wearing a mask and children under the age of two. “Our essential employees stepped up to the plate and are keeping us safe, healthy, fed and sheltered during this time,” Wolf said during a virtual press conference. “We all need to thank them by doing everything we can to prevent ourselves from spreading the virus to them.”
April 15, 2020 12:54 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has endorsed Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential race. She’s the latest of the former vice president’s onetime White House rivals to back him. Her endorsement comes as the Democratic Party moves to project unity against President Donald Trump going into the November election. Warren suspended her campaign last month after a disappointing “Super Tuesday.” She left the race without endorsing Biden or her fellow progressive Bernie Sanders. But the dynamics changed in subsequent weeks as the race has gone on hiatus amid the coronavirus outbreak. Sanders dropped out last week and endorsed Biden days later,. Former President Barack Obama followed suit on Tuesday.
April 15, 2020 9:28 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. retail sales plummeted 8.7% in March, a record drop as the viral outbreak closed down thousands of stores and shoppers stayed home. Sales fell sharply across many categories: Auto sales fell 25.6%, while clothing store sales collapsed, dropping 50.5%. U.S. consumer confidence has plunged and the vast majority of Americans are hunkered down at home under shelter in place orders. Grocery store sales did jump by nearly 26% as Americans hoarded food and consumer items. A category that mostly includes online sales rose 3.1%.
April 15, 2020 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. governors are starting to map out plans for reopening their economies as world leaders battling the coronavirus pin hopes on tests, technology and a coordinated approach to ease restrictions on movement that have slowed the outbreak but strangled the global marketplace. States from coast to coast are coordinating in regional coalitions, as President Donald Trump appears to back off his claim of absolute authority on when and how to loosen restrictions across the country. The International Monetary Fund predicts the world economy will suffer its worst year since the Great Depression in the 1930s and shrink by an estimated 3% this year.
