May 4, 2020 2:12 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — Giant Eagle is temporarily limiting the purchase of ground beef and on-sale meat items to two of each per transaction. Giant Eagle spokesman Dick Roberts says the supermarket chain had limited some meat purchases early in the COVID-19 pandemic in March, but now the demand for meat is skyrocketing — causing this latest announcement. Meat won’t disappear from supermarket shelves, but added to the mix is the impact of outbreaks of COVID-19 among U.S. slaughterhouse workers. Consumers could see a smaller selection of meat and higher prices. Roberts said Giant Eagle is working with several suppliers in each of its product categories. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed recently that consumer buying patterns change quickly and some products face supply-chain disruptions. But the USDA said it planned a $3 billion purchase of fresh produce, dairy and meat to help stabilize prices.
May 3, 2020 8:28 am
ROME (AP) — From the United States to Europe to Asia, the easing of some coronavirus lockdowns brought millions out of their homes to enjoy the outdoors and warm spring temperatures. Yet the global pandemic is still slicing through the defenses of other nations, causing infections and deaths to march relentlessly higher. India on Sunday reported more than 2,600 infections, its biggest single-day jump, and new coronavirus cases in Russia exceed 10,000 for the first time. The confirmed virus death toll in Britain was creeping up near that of Italy, the epicenter of Europe’s outbreak, even though the U.K. population is younger than Italy’s and Britain had more time than Italy to prepare before the pandemic hit. There was also worrying news from Afghanistan, where nearly a third tested positive in a random test of 500 people in Kabul, the capital city. China, which reported two only new cases, is seeing a surge in visitors to newly reopened tourist spots after domestic travel restrictions were relaxed ahead of a five-day holiday that runs through Tuesday. Nearly 1.7 million people visited Beijing parks on the first two days of the holiday, and Shanghai’s main tourist spots welcomed more than 1 million visitors, according to Chinese media. Many spots limited daily visitors to 30% of capacity or less to keep some social distancing in place.
May 3, 2020 8:26 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Weighing the risks, the Senate will reopen on Monday as the coronavirus crisis rages and the House stays shuttered, an approach that leaves Congress as divided as the nation. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to convene 100 senators at the Capitol during a pandemic gives President Donald Trump the imagery he wants of America getting back to work, despite health worries and a lack of testing. Yet, the Washington region remains under stay-at-home orders as a virus hot spot. Gathering senators for the first time since March risks lawmakers as well the cooks, cleaners, police officers and other workers who keep the lights on at the Capitol complex. Trump himself offered Congress access to the instant virus test system used to screen visitors to the White House. But in an extraordinary rebuff, McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Saturday that they would “respectfully decline” the offer and instead direct resources to the front lines “where they can do the most good.”
May 3, 2020 8:22 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North and South Korean troops exchanged fire along their tense border on Sunday, the South’s military said, the first such incident since the rivals took unprecedented steps to lower front-line animosities in late 2018. Violent confrontations have occasionally occurred along the border, the world’s most heavily fortified. While Sunday’s incident is a reminder of persistent tensions, it didn’t cause any known casualties on either side and is unlikely to escalate, observers said. The Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said in a statement that North Korean troops fired several bullets at a South Korean guard post inside the border zone. South Korea responded with a total of 20 rounds of warning shots on two occasions before issuing a warning broadcast, it said. South Korea suffered no casualties, the military said. Defense officials said it’s also unlikely that North Korea had any casualties, since the South Korean warning shots were fired at uninhibited North Korean territory. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, did not immediately report about the incident.
May 3, 2020 8:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Six months from Election Day, President Donald Trump’s prospects for winning a second term have been jolted by a historic pandemic and a cratering economy, rattling some of his Republican allies and upending the playbook his campaign had hoped to be using by now against Democrat Joe Biden. Trump’s standing has slumped as the nation’s focus on him has intensified during the coronavirus outbreak, revealing an erratic and often self-absorbed approach to the crisis. The result: He’s losing ground in some battleground states with key constituencies, including senior citizens and college-educated men — all without his Democratic challenger having devoted much energy or money to denting the president. For some Republicans, the prospect of an election that is almost wholly a referendum on Trump is unnerving. Though the president’s base remains loyal, a significant portion of GOP voters view him skeptically on a range of personal qualities. He pulled many of those voters to his side in the 2016 election by drawing an aggressive contrast with Democrat Hillary Clinton. He planned to do the same in 2020 with Biden, with the added tailwind of a surging American economy. Now, that economy is crumbling around Trump. A staggering 30 million Americans have lost their jobs in the past six weeks as businesses have shuttered due to stay-at-home restrictions aimed at containing the pandemic. One of the president’s own economic advisers predicted nationwide unemployment could reach 20% by June.
May 3, 2020 8:17 am
ATLANTA (AP) — As more states begin to relax their coronavirus lockdowns, most are falling short of the minimum levels of testing suggested by the federal government and recommended by a variety of public health researchers, an Associated Press analysis has found. Three months into an unprecedented public health emergency, the White House has largely resisted calls for a coordinated plan to conduct the millions of tests experts say are needed to contain the virus. What federal officials outlined recently isn’t even an official benchmark, and AP’s analysis found that a majority of states are not yet meeting it. With no specific guidelines, states are left to figure out what a successful testing program should be while they simultaneously try to reopen their shattered economies. If states don’t have robust testing, public health experts say they will be unable to detect outbreaks quickly enough to contain them, which could lead to more shutdowns.
May 3, 2020 8:15 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI)— A man crashed his vehicle into a Pittsburgh auto body shop and then jumped about 30 feet off a nearby bridge Saturday afternoon, according to police. Investigators said the incident happened around 2 p.m. The driver’s vehicle was seen going at a high rate of speed before it crashed completely through the outside of Ron Flora Automotive on West Warrington Avenue. At that point, police said the man ran up to the South Busway bridge above Boggs Avenue and jumped about 30 feet down. He was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition. Meanwhile, a female passenger in that vehicle stayed at the scene until officers got there. Police said the woman told officers that she and the driver were having an argument before the collision happened. She was also taken to the hospital but was listed in serious condition. No one else was hurt in the crash. The investigation is ongoing.
May 3, 2020 3:59 am
Balancing economic benefits and public health risks, Governor Tom Wolf today announced the reopening of 24 counties in the northwest and north-central regions of the state, moving them from red to yellow beginning at 12:01 a.m., Friday, May 8th. “Over the past two months, Pennsylvanians in every corner of our commonwealth have acted collectively to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Gov. Wolf said. “We have seen our new case numbers stabilize statewide and while we still have areas where outbreaks are occurring, we also have many areas that have few or no new cases.”
Counties Moving to Yellow Reopening
The 24 counties that will move from red to yellow on May 8 are: Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Union, Venango, and Warren. These counties were deemed ready to move to a reopening – or yellow phase – because of low per-capita case counts, the ability to conduct contact tracing and testing, and appropriate population density to contain community spread. Wolf says his administration partnered with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to create a Risk-Based Decision Support Tool that enables decision makers to strike a balance between maximizing the results of our economy while minimizing public health risks. The CMU tool looked at the impacts of risk factors such as reported number of COVID cases per population of an area; ICU and medical/surgical bed capacity; population density; population over age 60; re-opening contact risk, such as the number of workers employed in a currently closed industry sector. The Department of Health developed testing and contact-tracing plans that informed today’s decisions and will be used in making decisions moving forward. Counties that will remain under the stay-at-home order (Washington County) will be considered for reopening in the next several weeks as the state continues to closely monitor metrics and collaborate with CMU, health experts and counties.
May 2, 2020 4:13 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A New York City nursing home says nearly 100 of its residents have died from confirmed or suspected cases of the novel coronavirus. The Isabella Geriatric Center in Manhattan is among the hardest hit nursing homes in the state, with 46 confirmed fatalities and an additional 52 deaths of people suspected to have the virus. The nursing home said it had to order a refrigerator truck because funeral homes have been taking days to pick up the deceased. The nursing home said it struggled to secure testing during the early part of the pandemic. Mayor Bill de Blasio called the death toll “horrifying.”
May 2, 2020 4:13 am
ALTURAS, Calif. (AP) – The lights are back on at restaurants, bars and other businesses in California’s Modoc County after nearly six weeks. The county of 9,000 in the far northeast of the state became the first to reopen Friday, in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-home order. They’re relying on guidance from local officials, like the sheriff, and say they’re following mandates to stay at least 6 feet apart. Amber McCandles was at the Brass Rail restaurant. She says Sheriff Tex Dowdy would never allow residents back out if it wasn’t safe. Newsom has declined to address the reopening, saying that the anxiety in rural areas “is not lost on me.”
