March 17, 2020 4:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is urging all older Americans to stay home and everyone to avoid crowds and eating out at restaurants for at least the next few weeks as officials forecast a surge in the coronavirus outbreak. For the first time Trump acknowledged that the pandemic may send the economy into a recession and went on to suggest that Americans may be dealing with the virus until “July or August.” Trump’s warnings came Monday as the White House released sweeping guidelines for the next 15 days. People are advised not to gather in groups of more than 10, and discretionary travel and social visits should be avoided.
March 17, 2020 2:18 am
The Wolf Administration is clarifying efforts announced Monday afternoon to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 across Pennsylvania. The governor ‘strongly urged’ non-essential businesses to close for at least 14 days. The governor’s request is to protect employees, customers and suppliers. Previously, the governor designated Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Allegheny Counties to launch their own mitigation efforts. Non-essential businesses include entertainment, hospitality, and recreation facilities, including but not limited to community and recreation centers, gyms, hair salons and barber shops. Also, spas, casinos, concert venues ,theaters, sporting event venues and golf courses. Shopping malls are also included except for pharmacy or other health care facilities within retail operations.
March 17, 2020 2:16 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania will shut down all of its roughly 600 state-owned wine and liquor stores as part of the state’s expanding shutdown to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board said all wine and liquor stores and licensee service centers will close 9 p.m. Tuesday. Online sales ended Monday. Wolf already ordered the stores to close after Monday in four southeastern Pennsylvania counties where he had said there was “confirmed evidence of risk.” Stores in those four counties first drew large crowds over the weekend, and the liquor control board said it saw unusually high online order volume.
March 16, 2020 5:21 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – The Dow industrials took a 2,999-point nosedive on Monday as fears deepen that the coronavirus outbreak will throw global economy into recession. Even for a market beset by volatility in recent weeks, the losses were staggering. The 12.9% drop in the Dow was its worst since 1987. The losses accelerated in the last hour of trading as President Donald Trump advised Americans to avoid large gatherings. He also said he sees a chance of recession and promised help to the struggling airline industry. The losses came as huge swaths of the economy come closer to a standstill due to the outbreak as businesses and travel shut down.
March 16, 2020 4:38 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced that there are 16 additional positive cases of COVID-19, which brings the state total to 63. All patients diagnosed are either at home in isolation or being treated at a hospital. Of the 16 cases, another case was found in Allegheny County, bringing the county’s total to three cases. Officials have tested or are in the process of testing 446 patients. Of those tests, 205 have been negative, while 183 patient samples are in route or in the lab for testing. Below is the break down of cases by county as of noon today:
- Allegheny (3)
- Bucks (4)
- Chester (2)
- Cumberland (5)
- Delaware (7)
- Lehigh (1)
- Luzerne (1)
- Monroe (6)
- Montgomery (24)
- Northampton (1)
- Philadelphia (6)
- Pike (1)
- Washington (1)
- Wayne (1)
To stay up to date on the latest coronavirus updates, visit the PA Department of Health’s website.
March 16, 2020 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The federal government’s effort to ramp up testing for the coronavirus will initially prioritize health care workers and the elderly. Trump administration officials on Sunday described a targeted, government-driven effort to screen for the virus in the most vulnerable Americans and those able to treat them. Officials said federal emergency and health workers would partner with states to set up community centers capable of testing 2,000 to 4,000 people per day. The details come amid growing frustration about lack of access to testing and concerns the virus is spreading undetected.
March 16, 2020 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A clinical trial evaluating a vaccine designed to protect against the new coronavirus will begin Monday. A government official says the first participant in the trial will receive the experimental vaccine that day. The National Institutes of Health is funding the trial that is taking place at a Kaiser Permanente research facility in Seattle. Testing will begin with 45 young, healthy volunteers with different doses of shots co-developed by NIH and Moderna Inc. Public health officials say it will take a year to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine.
March 16, 2020 4:15 am
CHICAGO (AP) – The CDC is recommending that gatherings of 50 people or more in US be canceled or postponed over the next eight weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic. That guidance came as the virus was already curtailing many elements of American life. Officials and businesses on Sunday took forceful measures to halt the virus’s spread. Theme parks closed, Florida beaches shooed away spring breakers and governors in Ohio and Illinois ordered bars and restaurants shuttered. New York City limited eateries to handling takeout and delivery orders.áThe nation’s top infectious disease official said he would like to see a 14-day national shutdown imposed, but it does not appear President Donald Trump would order that.
March 16, 2020 4:13 am
BEIJING (AP) – Asian stock markets and U.S. futures have fallen after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates to shore up economic growth as more governments imposed anti-virus controls that are shutting down business and travel. Sydney’s benchmark plunged 7% on Monday and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2%. Shanghai was down 0.5% and Tokyo was flat. Brent crude, the international oil standard, fell 3% while gold gained., futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow industrials fell 5%, triggering a halt in trading. The price of oil fell while gold gained. That followed a dizzying week that saw the Dow twice fall by more than 2,000 points and also record it’s biggest point gain ever – 1,985 points on Friday.
March 16, 2020 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House is putting in place new measures to protect President Donald Trump and his staff during the coronavirus outbreak. Starting Monday, the White House will take the temperature of anyone entering the complex, from visitors to members of the press corps. The new measures expand on screenings the White House began on Saturday for anyone who will get close to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Members of the press corps are also taking steps, independent of the White House, to limit their own exposure to the coronavirus.
