April 6, 2020 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The ousted inspector general of the intelligence community says he is “disappointed and saddened” that President Donald Trump has fired him. Michael Atkinson is also encouraging other inspectors general to continue to speak out when they are aware of wrongdoing. Trump has notified Congress that he’s firing Atkinson because he has lost confidence in him. The president later connected the firing to Atkinson having forwarded a whistleblower complaint to Congress that led to the president’s impeachment. In a statement Sunday, Atkinson said it’s hard not to think that Trump’s loss of confidence derives from him having faithfully discharged his legal obligations as an independent and impartial inspector general.
April 6, 2020 4:10 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Americans are bracing for what the nation’s top doctor warns would be “the hardest and saddest week” of their lives due to an expected wave of coronavirus deaths to come. Britain assumed the unwelcome mantle of deadliest coronavirus hot spot in Europe after a record 24-hour jump in deaths that surpassed even hard-hit Italy’s. Its own prime minister, Boris Johnson, was hospitalized, 10 days after testing positive for COVID-19 in what his office described as a “precautionary step.” There were glimmers of hope, though, for some hard-hit areas as the number of people dying appeared to be slowing in New York City, Spain and Italy. Leaders still cautioned that those gains could be reversed if strict lockdowns weren’t followed.
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.
