Pres. Trump Declares Disaster: AP PA Headlines, AP Features |

AP PA Headlines 3/31/20

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The president declared a major disaster in Pennsylvania on Monday night, capping off a day that saw nearly 700 new cases as Gov. Tom Wolf extended the closing of schools and nonessential businesses indefinitely. Wolf also added four more counties — Carbon, Cumberland, Dauphin and Schuylkill — to a separate stay-at-home order and extended its duration by more than three weeks, through at least April 30. Trump’s order allows for federal assistance to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 10 million Pennsylvania residents, or 80% of the state’s population, have now been instructed to remain in their homes, with exceptions that include working at a business that’s still open, going to the grocery store or pharmacy, visiting a doctor, caring for a relative or heading outside to exercise. The Democratic governor said he knows the extended shutdown of businesses, schools and swaths of daily life “isn’t easy to hear,” but is necessary to save lives and keep hospitals from becoming overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.

“We’re going to keep our schools and businesses closed as long as we need to keep them closed to keep Pennsylvania safe. Right now, it isn’t safe,” he said. In other developments Monday:

COVID-19 cases reported by the state Health Department on Monday rose by 693 to nearly 4,100. Two women who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 died either late Sunday or early Monday at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Beaver County, according to the nursing home’s medical director, Dr. Dave Thimons. At least 19 residents at the facility have tested positive for the coronavirus in recent days. The women’s deaths raised the state’s toll to at least 50, up from 38 on Sunday. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in a couple of weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems are at higher risk of more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.

The Department of Corrections said inmates throughout the state prison system will largely be confined to their cells to keep the virus from spreading after an inmate at State Correctional Institution at Phoenix in Montgomery County tested positive for COVID-19. “Quarantining the entire system is in the best interest of our employees and our inmates,” Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said in a news release. Inmates will only be allowed out of their cells for video visits, phone calls and access to the law library. The Corrections Department incarcerates nearly 44,600 inmates in 25 state prisons.

The state Supreme Court was asked to order the release of some inmates from county jails to help reduce the virus’s spread. The county jail system isn’t impacted by the Department of Corrections quarantine. )The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania said in a petition that tight inmate quarters, a lack of sanitation, and a limited ability to treat and quarantine people suspected of having COVID-19 presents an “extraordinary public health risk” to inmates, staff and surrounding communities.

Once the virus enters a jail, it’s “virtually certain to spread like wildfire,” the petition said. The plaintiffs are the Pennsylvania Prison Society, an advocacy group, along with five inmates. Other states, including New Jersey, have taken steps to reduce their jail populations, as have Allegheny, Lackawanna and Lancaster counties in Pennsylvania. The legal action was taken as Pike County officials announced Sunday that a staffer at the jail tested positive for COVID-19. Inmates who had direct contact are under quarantine.

The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office is seeking banks and financial institutions to join a new program that expands consumer protections under a recently passed federal law. Under the program, dubbed PA CARE Package, lending institutions will make loans more easily available to small- and medium-sized businesses and will provide a 90-day grace period for mortgages; auto and other consumer loans; and late and overdraft fees and similar charges. Participating banks must also agree to a minimum two-month moratorium on foreclosures, evictions and vehicle repossessions, and promise not to negatively impact the credit of people who get relief from consumer loans. The attorney general’s office said PNC Bank was the first to agree to participate.

Pennsylvania is getting the OK from federal regulators to allow schools to provide free meals to all children during the COVID-19 emergency. The state Education Department said Monday it received the waiver, clearing the way for schools and community organizations to request state approval as an open-meal site. Without the federal action, Pennsylvania schools that did not quality for free or reduced-price meals could not provide free meals to all children in their area. The state Education Department says it’s ready to process requests. There are about 1,600 food distribution sites in Pennsylvania, according to the state agency, and the new federal waiver is expected to increase that number.

Pennsylvania set another record for unemployment claims last week — numbering 405,000 — as businesses shut down and laid off workers. That beat the previous week’s record of 379,000, which itself was highest in the nation. Unemployment filings surged after Wolf first asked and later mandated that nonessential businesses close their physical locations.

The emergency relief bill signed last week by President Donald Trump adds 13 weeks of benefits — from 26 to 39 in Pennsylvania — plus $600 a week in benefits. It also expands eligibility to workers who don’t pay into the system and normally aren’t eligible, but who lost jobs due to the pandemic.

Pittsburgh is closing its public basketball courts and closing Mount Washington overlooks because too many people are crowding them and flouting social distancing guidelines. Police will patrol parks to break up group sports. The parks remain open. Officials encouraged residents to use them, but to stay away from each other.

Rubinkam reported from northeastern Pennsylvania and Lauer reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writer Marc Levy in Harrisburg contributed to this report.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf says all schools will remain closed indefinitely as Pennsylvania reports nearly 700 new cases of the coronavirus. Wolf also extended his order to stay at home to more counties, and he says the social distancing guidelines will be extended until April 30. Meanwhile, inmates throughout the Pennsylvania state prison system will largely be confined to their cells to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 after one tested positive for the disease. Corrections Secretary John Wetzel says he took action after an inmate at a state prison outside Philadelphia contracted the new virus.

HAMBURG, Pa. (AP) — For millions of seasonal allergy sufferers, the annual onset of watery eyes and scratchy throats is bumping up against the global spread of a new virus. Forecasters are predicting a brutal spring allergy season for vast swaths of the United States at the same time that COVID-19 cases are rising dramatically. That’s causing angst for people who suffer from hay fever and are now asking themselves whether their symptoms are related to their allergies or the new coronavirus.

PHILADELPHA (AP) — Authorities say gunfire killed at least five people in recent days in Philadelphia. A 33-year-old man died after he was shot while in his vehicle Friday afternoon. A 22-year-old man was shot late Sunday afternoon and died minutes later. About two hours later, another man was shot to death in north Philadelphia. A 41-year-old man was found shot in the head in the wee hours of Monday on a transit train. And then Monday afternoon, a 22-year-old man was shot and died shortly afterward. The number of city killings is over 20% higher than last year at the same time.

Features

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who was sued by gun-rights groups after trying to shut down firearms dealers in the wake of coronavirus concerns, now says he’s abandoning the effort. The sheriff said he’s heeding a federal Department of Homeland Security advisory Saturday that lists gun and ammo dealers as “essential critical infrastructure workers.” Villanueva called the non-binding memo “persuasive” and announced his department won’t order or recommend closing businesses that sell or repair firearms or sell ammunition in the nation’s most populous county.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said that each of the state’s 58 counties can decide for themselves whether to list firearms dealers as nonessential businesses that should be subject to closure while the state seeks to limit the spread of COVID-19. Villanueva ordered a shutdown of gun shops last week, saying panic-buying that produced long lines at the shops was worrisome from a public safety standpoint.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie is boasting of his bid to stall a $2.2-trillion coronavirus-relief package and hauling in campaign cash for his stand. The Kentucky congressman’s campaign said Monday it has raised more than $110,000 over a three-day period that ended Sunday. Massie drew the spotlight for recently trying to force a roll call vote on the relief approved by Congress. Massie said he was trying hold up what he considered to be an unconstitutional vote for a wasteful bill. But he drew the wrath of President Donald Trump, who denounced the congressman as a “third rate Grandstander.” Massie faces a spirited primary challenge from Todd McMurtry.

NEW YORK (AP) — ABC News White House correspondent Jonathan Karl is calling on Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to apologize for a tweet condemning the media. Karl is head of the White House Correspondents’ Association, and he said Monday that Rubio’s tweet was outrageous and hurtful. Rubio had tweeted that some in the media “can’t contain their glee and delight” at the news that the United States had surpassed China in the number of coronavirus cases. Karl says Rubio should make clear who he was talking about, and the senator has not done so. The Florida Republican also suggested the Chinese have lied about the number of coronavirus cases in that country.

PA, Fla. (AP) — Florida officials have arrested the pastor of a megachurch after detectives say he held two Sunday services with hundreds of people and violated a safer-at-home order in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus. According to jail records, Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne turned himself in to authorities Monday afternoon in Hernando County, where he lives.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister says he told church leaders of the danger they are putting themselves and their congregation in by not maintaining appropriate social distancing. The county and governor’s orders require gatherings be fewer than 10 people to limit the spread of COVID-19. A live stream of Sunday’s three-and-a-half-hour church service showed scores of congregants.

DALLAS (AP) — All gassed up and nowhere to go? It’s one of the strange effects of the COVID-19 crisis for American motorists. Gasoline prices have plummeted down to their lowest prices in four years — and are expected to go lower, as world oil prices nose dive. That would usually move drivers to fill up their tanks and hit the road. But with much of the nation under coronavirus shutdowns, there are millions under stay-at-home orders. And those who might venture out will find attractions, restaurants and other destinations shuttered because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

NEW YORK (AP) — Some of the very workers many of us are counting on to get us through the COVID-19 crisis say they’re through with the way they’re being treated by their employers. Workers at Instacart and Amazon walked off the job yesterday, demanding greater safeguards against the coronavirus. The one-day strike had little effect on consumers. But it does call attention to the plight of the relatively low-wage workers who have ended up on the front lines of the pandemic, delivering food and supplies to those being asked to keep safe by working at home. Workers with Whole Foods — owned by Amazon — are calling for a nationwide “sick out” tomorrow.

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