April 10, 2020 5:42 pm
VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis is presiding over a torch-lit Good Friday procession in an otherwise empty St. Peter’s Square, with nurses and doctors among those holding a cross as the COVID-19 pandemic upends the traditional ceremony at Rome’s Colosseum. Wearing their white work coats, the Vatican medical personnel provided a stark reminder of how the virus outbreak has infused almost all walks of life. Francis watched from the steps outside St. Peter’s Basilica as the procession, which included a uniformed police officer and a prison chaplain, circled around the square’s central obelisk. Earlier, the papal preacher said pandemic has alerted people to the danger of thinking themselves all-powerful.
April 10, 2020 1:53 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer says the Trump administration has agreed to pursue bipartisan House-Senate talks on an interim bill to replenish a $350 billion “paycheck protection” program for businesses that is being rapidly depleted. The New York Democrat said he spoke with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Friday and hopes for a deal early next week. Schumer is pressing to add funding for health care providers such as hospitals, as well as further funding for cash-poor state and local governments. The developments come a day after Democrats stifled an attempt by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to pass a $250 billion infusion into the new program by a voice vote.
April 10, 2020 1:51 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf is issuing an executive order Friday to authorize the early release of up to 1,800 inmates from Pennsylvania state prisons in an effort to minimize the spread of the new coronavirus. The governor’s office said that releases to halfway houses or home confinement could start as early as Tuesday. The plan is similar to what other states and some Pennsylvania counties have undertaken. It allows the release of inmates serving time for nonviolent offenses who are within nine months of scheduled release, or within 12 months for those considered at heightened risk from the coronavirus.
April 10, 2020 4:09 am
LONDON (AP) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved out of intensive care where he was being treated for the new coronavirus, as his government told Britons to prepare for several more weeks in lockdown. In a statement Thursday, his office said Johnson “has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery.” It said he was in extremely good spirits. Johnson had been in intensive care for three days after his symptoms worsened. News of Johnson’s improving condition was welcomed across the British political spectrum – and by U.S. President Donald Trump, who tweeted: “Great News: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just been moved out of Intensive Care. Get well Boris!!!”
April 10, 2020 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Attorney General William Barr believes the Russia investigation that shadowed President Donald Trump for nearly two years was started without any basis and was intended to “sabotage the presidency.” Barr made the comments during an interview with Fox News Channel that aired Thursday night. He has appointed a U.S. attorney to lead a criminal investigation into the origins of the Russia probe. He says the Justice Department has evidence there was “something far more troubling” than just mistakes during the early stages of the FBI’s Russia investigation. That investigation later morphed into special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.
April 10, 2020 4:07 am
UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The United Nations secretary-general is warning that the coronavirus pandemic is threatening international peace and security. Antonio Guterres warned the U.N. Security Council this can potentially lead “to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease.” The council is the U.N.’s most powerful body and it has been silent on COVID-19 since it started circling the globe in January. But after Thursday’s meeting the council issued its first brief press statement. It expressed “support for all efforts of the secretary-general concerning the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to conflict-affected countries.”
April 10, 2020 4:06 am
South Korea has reported 27 new cases of the coronavirus, marking its ninth consecutive day below 100, as infections continue to wane in the worst-hit city of Daegu. Figures released by South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday brought nationwide totals to 10,450 cases and 208 virus-related deaths. While the country’s caseload has slowed from early March, when it was reporting around 500 new cases per day, KCDC director Jeong Eun-kyeong has raised the possibility of a broader “quiet spread,” pointing to recent transmissions at bars and other leisure facilities that could indicate eased attitudes toward social distancing.
April 10, 2020 4:05 am
With the federal stockpile drained of protective gear, states are turning to each other, private industries and anyone who can donate in a desperate bid to get respirators, gloves and other supplies to doctors, nurses and other front-line workers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Wednesday that the federal cupboard is officially bare at least through this month after it was able to fulfill just a sliver of states’ requests. States already have begun working together, whether its forming regional alliances to create greater purchasing power or sending excess supplies to hot spots.
April 10, 2020 4:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House says hospitals taking money from the $2 trillion stimulus bill will have to agree not to send “surprise” medical bills to patients treated for COVID-19. Surprise bills happen when a patient with health insurance gets treated at an out-of-network emergency room, or when an out-of-network doctor assists with a hospital procedure. They can run to tens of thousands of dollars. The stimulus bill created a $100 billion fund for the health care system. Providers who accept the grants will have to agree not to bill more than patients would have paid in their insurance network.
April 10, 2020 4:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s new coronavirus aid request has gotten tied up in congressional politics. Democrats refused to rubber stamp Trump’s proposal for $250 billion more to boost small businesses, demanding modifications along with an additional $250 billion for health care providers and states. Republicans wouldn’t go along. The standoff doesn’t end the pursuit of more rescue funds, but it came as the government reported that 6.6 million more people filed for unemployment benefits last week. This is increasing worries that the economy is sliding toward a severe recession. Democrats and Republicans agree the aid is urgently needed and talks are sure to continue, but it reinforces that Congress and the White House will need to find bipartisan agreement
