March 26, 2020 2:39 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Officials say the West Virginia nursing home described as the epicenter of the state’s coronavirus caseload now has 28 positive cases as containment measures continue. Sundale nursing home medical director Carl Shrader on Thursday said 20 residents and eight staffers at the Morgantown facility have the virus. Four tests are still pending after an aggressive effort to screen nearly everyone at the center. Shrader has described Sundale as “ground zero” for the virus in West Virginia. Gov. Jim Justice says the situation there is a “horror story.” State officials reported at least 51 positive cases as of Wednesday night, with the largest number in Monongalia County where the nursing home is located.
March 25, 2020 5:55 pm
William Dufris, who voiced the title character in the U.S. and Canadian version of the children’s series Bob the Builder for its first nine seasons, has died of cancer. He was 62. Pocket Universe Productions, which Dufris co-founded, confirmed the news on social media Tuesday but did not give details.
March 25, 2020 3:54 pm
UNDATED (AP) – Jackson Browne has tested positive for COVID-19. The Rock Hall of Fame inductee is currently recuperating at his Los Angeles home. He first told Rolling Stone magazine and the news was confirmed by The Associated Press through his representatives. Browne tells Rolling Stone his symptoms are “pretty mild” and he does not require medication or hospitalization. The 71-year-old musician isn’t sure where he got it, but he suspected his recent trip to New York for the annual Love Rocks NYC benefit may have been the source. That benefit also featured Cyndi Lauper, Dave Matthews, Warren Haynes, Susan Tedeschi (teh-DES’-kee) and Derek Trucks. For most people the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, it can cause severe illness and death. The vast majority of people recover.
March 25, 2020 7:47 am
LONDON (AP) – Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, has tested positive for the new coronavirus. The prince’s Clarence House office says the 71-year-old is showing mild symptoms of COVID-19 and is self-isolating at a royal estate in Scotland. It says his wife Camilla has tested negative. The palace says Charles “has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual.”
March 25, 2020 3:58 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Governors across the nation are rejecting President Donald Trump’s new accelerated timeline for reopening the U.S. economy, as they continued to impose more restrictions on travel and public life in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The dismissal of Trump’s new timeframe – he said he believes the U.S. could reopen by mid-April – came from both Republicans and Democrats, from leaders struggling to manage hot spots of the outbreak and those still trying to mitigate a further spread.
March 25, 2020 3:57 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Gov. Andrew Cuomo has sounded his most dire warning yet about the coronavirus pandemic. He said Tuesday the infection rate in New York is accelerating and the state could be two to three weeks away from a crisis that sees 40,000 people in intensive care. Such a surge would swamp hospitals, which now have just 3,000 intensive care unit beds in the entire state. Cuomo said the rate of new infections is doubling about every three days. Johns Hopkins University data shows there have been more than 23,000 positive cases in New York state.
March 25, 2020 3:54 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Authorities say a 17-year-old boy who tested positive for the coronavirus has died but it’s not yet clear whether the virus was to blame. Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris says Tuesday that the Lancaster boy died from septic shock, which can occur as a reaction to infection. He believes it’s the first U.S. virus-related death of a youth under 18. But Los Angeles County health officials say there may be an “alternate explanation” for the death and more investigation is needed. Meanwhile, with California virus cases surging, Gov. Gavin Newsom said his stay-at-home order for 40 million Californians may stay in place into May.
March 25, 2020 3:53 am
South Korea says it plans to provide coronavirus testing materials to the United States in response to President Donald Trump’s request for help. The director of South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the country is willing to send chemical reagents used to extract genetic material during COVID-19 tests, but at a level that doesn’t affect its own testing capacity. She didn’t provide a detailed estimate on the size of supplies that could be shipped to the United States. South Korea is pushing an aggressive test-and-quarantine program that some experts say possibly contributed to its lower death toll in comparison with mainland China and hard-hit European nations.
March 25, 2020 3:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House and Senate leaders of both parties have agreed on unprecedented emergency legislation to rush sweeping aid to businesses, workers and a health care system slammed by the coronavirus pandemic. The urgently needed pandemic response measure is the largest economic rescue measure in history. It’s intended as a weeks- or months-long patch for an economy spiraling into recession and a nation facing a potentially ghastly toll. Top White House aide Eric Ueland announced the agreement in a Capitol hallway shortly after midnight, capping days of often intense haggling and mounting pressure. The package still needs to be finalized in detailed legislative language.
March 25, 2020 3:50 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf is quietly allowing gun shops to reopen on a limited basis during the coronavirus pandemic after several justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court urged him to do so. The governor’s office says firearms dealers may now sell their wares by individual appointment during limited hours as long as they comply with social distancing guidelines and take other measures to protect employees and customers from the coronavirus. Wolf on Tuesday also ordered residents of another county, Erie, to stay home, in another sign of the virus’s rapid spread across Pennsylvania.
