April 6, 2020 4:09 am
LONDON (AP) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved to the intensive care unit of a London hospital after his coronavirus symptoms worsened. Johnson’s office says Johnson is conscious and does not require ventilation at the moment. Johnson was admitted to St. Thomas’ Hospital late Sunday, 10 days after he was diagnosed with COVID-19. Johnson has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputize for him. “Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital,” his office said in a statement.
April 6, 2020 4:03 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Tens of thousands of U.S. medical workers are suddenly out of work as casualties of measures to prioritize coronavirus patients at hospitals and of the economic troubles the crisis is creating. Hospitals are plucking professionals from the industry to treat the burgeoning numbers of people with COVID-19, but others are being left behind. Many nurse anesthetists in Pennsylvania have been laid off, though they are particularly critical to the coronavirus response. Big-city specialist groups, tiny hospitals and big multistate systems are seeing big revenue dropoffs. Minnesota reported that over 13,600 practitioners or technicians filed unemployment claims in the last half of March.
April 6, 2020 4:01 am
GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) – State police in western Pennsylvania say charges are planned against two people accused in separate incidents of purposely coughing on others. Police in Westmoreland County allege that a 48-year-old North Huntingdon woman became upset at a drive-thru window in Hempfield and “began purposely coughing” at a worker, saying “I hope you get COVID-19 and die.” At a doctor’s office in Latrobe, police allege that a 53-year-old Cherry Tree man purposely coughed on two staff members. Police say charges including disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment and simple assault charges are planned against the suspects.
April 6, 2020 2:37 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. (WPXI) — An employee at an assisted living facility in Washington County has tested positive for novel coronavirus. Presbyterian SeniorCare Network officials confirmed the employee who tested positive has worked for four years as a personal care aide at Southminster Place. That person hasn’t been to work since April 1 and is now self-quarantined at home, officials said. So far, no residents or other employees at that nursing home have tested positive for COVID-19. Below is a statement from the organization:
“We send our concern and prayers for our team member. Our staff and frontline care givers are heroes to all those we serve,” says Paul Winkler, president, Presbyterian SeniorCare Network. “During these unprecedented times, our entire staff has responded with compassion, care and commitment to meeting the needs of one of our nation’s most vulnerable populations. We have been steadfast in taking aggressive screening protocols to minimize the risk associated with COVID-19 for our team members, residents and patients, and we will continue to work tirelessly to provide the infection control measures and care needed to get through this pandemic.”
April 5, 2020 8:02 am
SEATTLE (AP) – Experts and health officials who are trying to plan a response to the coronavirus outbreak are missing a critical piece of information – the number of health care workers who have tested positive for the disease. Washington state faced the first major outbreak of COVID-19 in the nation, but health officials have not kept track of how many doctors and nurses have the disease. New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, also lacks infection figures for medical staff. Experts who create models for how the coronavirus will affect the country’s health care system say they want the data to better determine how severely hospitals will be hit.
April 5, 2020 7:58 am
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) – Divers and boats searched in the Chesapeake Bay for the bodies of the daughter and a grandson of former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend after they didn’t return from a canoe ride. Maryland Natural Resources Police say the search was suspended Saturday night and would resume Sunday morning. Police and Kennedy Townsend have called the search a recovery operation. The missing canoeists are Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean and her 8-year-old son Gideon. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is the eldest daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the niece of the late President John F. Kennedy.
April 5, 2020 7:56 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Gov. Andrew Cuomo says New York has secured a planeload of ventilators from China, and Oregon is sending a shipment of its own to battle the coronavirus pandemic at its U.S. core. But the governor’s startling plan to force hospitals elsewhere in the state to give spare ventilators to the fight in New York City apparently hasn’t yet materialized, a day after he ordered them to surrender 20% of any unused supply to the National Guard for temporary redistribution. Cuomo said Saturday the Chinese government facilitated a 1,000-ventilator donation from billionaires Jack Ma and Joseph Tsai, who co-founded the e-commerce giant Alibaba. Cuomo also said Oregon volunteered to send 140 more breathing machines.
April 5, 2020 7:54 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Tens of thousands of U.S. medical workers are suddenly out of work as casualties of measures to prioritize coronavirus patients at hospitals and of the economic troubles the crisis is creating. Hospitals are plucking professionals from the industry to treat the burgeoning numbers of people with COVID-19, but others are being left behind. Many nurse anesthetists in Pennsylvania have been laid off, though they are particularly critical to the coronavirus response. Big-city specialist groups, tiny hospitals and big multistate systems are seeing big revenue dropoffs. Minnesota reported that over 13,600 practitioners or technicians filed unemployment claims in the last half of March.
April 5, 2020 7:53 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is suggesting that he fired the inspector general for the intelligence community in retaliation for impeachment, saying the official was wrong to provide an anonymous whistleblower complaint to Congress as the law requires. In remarks to reporters on Saturday, Trump called Michael Atkinson a “disgrace” and accused him of passing along to Congress a “fake report.” Atkinson had determined the complaint was urgent and credible and therefore was required by law to disclose it to Congress. His ouster, announced late Friday, came under immediate fire from Democrats and a handful of Republicans.
April 5, 2020 7:52 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis is celebrating Palm Sunday Mass without the public, since the traditional ceremony in St. Peter’s Square was scrapped because of the coronavirus pandemic. Normally, tens of thousands of Romans, tourists and pilgrims, clutching olive tree branches or palm fronds, would have flocked to an outdoor Mass. Instead, Francis on Sunday was leading the ceremony inside St. Peter’s Basilica, which seemed even more cavernous than usual because it was so empty. Aides, a few invited prelates and nuns and altar servers were present. Appearing pensive, Francis blessed the braided palms held by others, then held one himself.
