April 3, 2020 3:54 am
South Korea has reported 86 new cases of the coronavirus to bring its caseload above 10,000. South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday said about half of the new cases came from the densely populous Seoul metropolitan area, where infections linked to international arrivals have been rising. China reported 31 new confirmed virus cases, 29 of them from overseas, and four new deaths. North Korea says only around 500 people remain under coronavirus quarantine in the country after authorities in recent weeks released thousands of others who supposedly had no symptoms.
April 3, 2020 3:53 am
NEW YORK (AP) – CNN’s daytime news host Brooke Baldwin says she’s tested positive for the coronavirus. She’s the second on-air personality at CNN to come down with the disease in the past week. Prime-time host Chris Cuomo has also tested positive and did two of his shows remotely from the basement of his home. Baldwin said Friday on Instagram that the fever, aches and chills that are often a sign of COVID-19 came on suddenly Thursday afternoon. Baldwin said she has been social distancing and doing everything that experts say, but “still, it got me.” COVID-19 causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can be fatal.
April 3, 2020 3:52 am
WUHAN, China (AP) – Millions of Chinese workers are streaming back to factories, shops and offices but many still face anti-coronavirus controls that add to their financial losses and aggravation. In Wuhan, the city where the pandemic started in December, police require a health check and documents from employers for returning workers. Chinese leaders have eased travel controls to revive the world’s second-largest economy but they have ordered local authorities to prevent a new spike in infections as businesses reopen. Beijing told companies to keep paying employees during a two-month shutdown, but millions of migrants, day laborers and others without regular jobs need to get back to work to start getting paid again.
April 3, 2020 3:50 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Coronavirus deaths are mounting with alarming speed in Spain, Italy and New York, the most lethal hot spot in the United States. Also growing is the pandemic’s economic toll, with 10 million Americans thrown out of work in just two weeks in the swiftest, most stunning collapse the U.S. job market has witnessed. In New York City, which has seen 1,500 virus deaths, one funeral home in a hard-hit neighborhood had 185 bodies stacked up – more than triple normal capacity. Worldwide the number of reported infections reached another gloomy milestone – 1 million, with more than 53,000 deaths.
April 3, 2020 2:51 am
Researchers and doctors from UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh announced Thursday that there is a potential vaccine for COVID-19. The vaccine, which is delivered through a fingertip-sized patch, produces what is thought to be enough antibodies to neutralize the virus. Researchers said viruses closely related to the new coronavirus show that spike proteins are important when it comes to inducing immunity. The potential vaccine works like the current flu vaccine in that it uses lab-made pieces of viral protein to build immunity. The potential vaccine is being called PittCoVacc, short for Pittsburgh Coronavirus Vaccine. The fingertip-sized patch increases the potency of the vaccine through the use of 400 tiny needles that deliver the spike protein pieces into the skin, where the immune reaction is strongest, officials said. It goes on like a Band-Aid and the needles dissolve into the skin because they’re made up of sugar and the protein pieces. “It’s actually pretty painless. It feels kind of like Velcro,” said Louis Falo, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of dermatology at Pitt’s School of Medicine and UPMC. The process of applying for an investigational new drug approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been started, with anticipation of starting a phase I human clinical trial in the next few months. “Testing in patients would typically require at least a year and probably longer,” Falo said.
April 3, 2020 2:46 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania will stop paying about 9,000 state workers whose offices have been closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration says that paid leave for state employees whose work locations are closed and who are unable to work remotely will end April 10. The pay freeze impacts about 12% of the state workforce, though individual agencies are being hit much harder. The state Departments of Transportation and Revenue are halting pay to more than half of their employees.
April 2, 2020 5:23 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The federal government expects to begin making payments to millions of Americans under the new stimulus law in mid-April, but some people without direct deposit information may not get checks until mid-August or later. That’s according to a memo obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. The document from the House Ways and Means Committee says the IRS will make about 60 million payments to Americans through direct deposit in mid-April, likely the week of April 13. The IRS has direct deposit information for these individuals from their 2018 or 2019 tax returns. Paper checks will be issued, starting May 4th, but could take up to 20 weeks.
April 2, 2020 3:40 pm
(AP) – The Democratic National Committee is delaying its convention until the week of Aug. 17. The move comes after prospective nominee Joe Biden said he didn’t think it was possible to hold a normal convention in July because of the coronavirus. The viral pandemic is forcing Democrats and Republicans to take a close look at their summer conventions, which typically kick off the general election season. Republicans are expressing confidence they can pull off their convention as scheduled in late August. The Democrats’ change presents massive logistical issues for the tens of thousands of delegates, activists, party leaders and media who planned to descend on Milwaukee in July.
April 2, 2020 10:30 am
MOSCOW (AP) – President Vladimir Putin has ordered most Russians to stay off work until the end of the month to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Speaking in a televised address to the nation on Thursday, Putin said he was extending the non-working policy he ordered earlier for this week to remain in force throughout April. He said there are exceptions for essential industries will keep operating, and grocery stores and pharmacies will remain open. He said Russia’s virus-prevention strategies have bought time and helped slow down the outbreak but also warned that cases haven’t yet peaked.
April 2, 2020 9:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – More than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, far exceeding a record high set just last week, a sign that layoffs are accelerating in the midst of the coronavirus. The job cuts are mounting against the backdrop of economies in the United States and abroad that have almost certainly sunk into a severe recession as businesses close across the world. Last week’s figure is much higher than the previous record of 3.3 million reported for the previous week. The surging layoffs have led many economists to envision as many as 20 million lost jobs by the end of April.
