March 28, 2020 7:54 am
Spain has seen its deadliest day yet during the coronavirus crisis with 832 deaths reported on Saturday for a total of 5,690 fatalities. Infections have increased by over 8,000 in 24 hours to reach a national total of 72,248. Finnish police and assisting military forces and border guard officials have started to enforce a blockade of a key southern region that includes the Nordic nation’s capital, Helsinki. The Albanian government has announced that people will have to apply for a permit to go out for necessities following stricter measures to contain the virus outbreak.
March 28, 2020 6:57 am
ISLAMABAD (AP) – Pakistan’s foreign ministry says that China has sent a plane loaded with medical personnel and supplies to help with the fight against the spread of the coronavirus in the nation of 220 million people. The aid came even as Pakistan’s prime minister refused to impose a countrywide lockdown or close mosques to crowds as of Saturday. China has sought to portray itself as a global leader in the fight against the outbreak, which began a few months ago in its Wuhan province. Across the Middle East, the outbreak has raised concerns that health systems strapped by multiple wars, refugee crises and unstable economies won’t be able to handle a growing numbers in cases. Iran is battling the worst outbreak in the region. with over 2,500 deaths from the virus and around 35,000 confirmed cases.
March 28, 2020 6:55 am
UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The United Nations says the 191 parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty have decided to postpone a conference to review its implementation because of the coronavirus pandemic. The treaty is considered the cornerstone of global efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and the parties hold a major conference every five years to discuss how it is working. The meeting was scheduled to be held from April 27-May 22 at U.N. headquarters in New York. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the review conference will be held “as soon as the circumstances permit, but no later than April 2021.
March 28, 2020 5:57 am
Giant Eagle has announced that three of its employees have tested positive for COVID-19. The grocery store chain says that locations in New Kensington, Wexford, North Huntingdon, Brunwsick and Altoona have been affected. Grocery stores have remained open as ‘life-sustaining’ businesses. Giant Eagle has said that all of its stores have been cleaned and sanitized, and will remain open.
March 28, 2020 5:53 am
DETROIT (AP) – President Donald Trump has issued an order that seeks to force General Motors to produce ventilators for coronavirus patients under the Defense Production Act. Trump says negotiations with General Motors had been productive, “but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course.” Trump says “GM was wasting time” and says his actions will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives. GM said its commitment to build ventilators has never wavered
March 28, 2020 4:26 am
There are 533 additional positive cases of the coronavirus in Pennsylvania on Saturday, bringing the total to 2,751, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. In addition to the new cases, 11 more deaths have been reported. The statewide death total is now at 34. There are 21,016 patients who have tested negative, the Department of Health said. Here is a breakdown of cases in western Pennsylvania counties:
Allegheny County: 219
Fayette County: 10
Washington County: 23
Beaver County: 22
Butler County: 41
Lawrence County: 8
Westmoreland County: 41
Mercer County: 6
Greene County: 6
Armstrong County: 2
Indiana County: 2
March 28, 2020 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has signed an unprecedented $2.2 trillion economic rescue package into law, after swift and near-unanimous action by Congress this week. The package will support businesses, rush resources to overburdened health care providers and help struggling families during the deepening coronavirus epidemic. As he signed the bill Friday, Trump declared it “will deliver urgently needed relief.” He thanked members of both parties for putting Americans “first.” The House passed the legislation earlier Friday by voice vote. The legislation will speed government payments of $1,200 to most Americans and increase jobless benefits for millions of people thrown out of work. Businesses big and small will get loans, grants and tax breaks.
March 28, 2020 4:14 am
ATLANTA (AP) – The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, a civil rights leader who helped the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, has died at 98. A charismatic and fiery preacher with oratory skills on par with King, Lowery led the SCLC for two decades. He remained an active force in social issues such as war and poverty long after his retirement. Lowery was considered the dean of civil rights veterans and lived to celebrate a milestone that few of them thought they would ever witness – the election of an African American president. President Barack Obama awarded Lowery the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. A family statement says Lowery died Friday.
March 28, 2020 4:03 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf followed through on his threat to veto a bill to provide potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks for petrochemical plants that use natural gas extracted in the state. In his veto message Friday, Wolf said he could support awarding an incentive like the one in the bill, but only after a thorough analysis of a proposed project. The Republican-penned bill passed both GOP-controlled legislative chambers by veto-proof majorities in early February. It authorized the “energy and fertilizer manufacturing tax credit.” Wolf’s administration estimated the tax credit would be worth about $22 million annually per plant and expire at the end of 2050.
March 28, 2020 3:58 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf is ordering a big expansion of his stay-at-home order, from 10 to 19 counties. Wolf’s Friday order adds Berks, Butler, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Luzerne, Pike, Wayne, Westmoreland and York counties. Already included were the state’s most populous counties, including Philadelphia and Allegheny County. In the meantime, a shuttered reform school for boys in suburban Philadelphia and Temple University’s sports and events center could be used as overflow as coronavirus cases grow and hospitals are pressed for space. Wolf’s administration announced that it had confirmed 531 more coronavirus cases, a 30% jump to more than 2,200, and six more deaths for a total of 22.
