AP PA Headlines 4/15/20
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Republican proposal to force the governor to adopt new rules that would allow far more businesses to open during the COVID-19 pandemic moved ahead in the Legislature on Tuesday. The bill would direct Wolf to develop a system based on guidance for businesses from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and on an advisory memo on the topic sent out late last month by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Wolf closed businesses deemed not essential to sustaining life about a month ago and subsequently set up a review system for those who wanted permission to reopen. Members of the House’s Republican majority argued that the Wolf administration’s approach has been inconsistent, unfair and difficult to understand. They said there are businesses that can safely operate and should.
Democrats countered that loosening the shutdown, in place for about a month, would cause more infections and may overwhelm the health care system. The House voted to send the proposal to the Senate, 107-95, with every Democrat and two Republicans opposed to it. Wolf said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday that he would withhold judgment on reopening legislation until he sees details, but he acknowledged there are differences over the best approach.
Pennsylvania counties have processed about 283,000 absentee and mail-in ballots for the June primary, and requests from Democrats are three times more common than from Republicans, state elections officials said Tuesday. The Department of State said 89,000 absentee ballot requests have already been processed, with the June 2 primary still seven weeks away.
During the 2016 primary, 84,000 votes were cast under the absentee ballot system, which is available only to those who offer an acceptable reason they would not be able to vote in person. Counties have already processed 195,000 requests for mail-in ballots under a state law passed last fall that permits them for any voter who requests one.
Pennsylvania has about 4.1 million registered Democrats and 3.3 million Republicans. Of the absentee and mail-in requests for the primary processed so far, about 209,000 are from Democrats and 73,000 from Republicans. Department of State spokeswoman Wanda Murren said remote voting applications jumped after Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf issued orders closing schools and businesses not considered essential to sustaining life, “First of all, the mail-in option is brand new, and now, with the COVID-19 situation, people want to vote at home, and we’re encouraging that,” Murren said. “We really have no way of knowing what this will end up looking like.”
In a Wisconsin statewide judicial election held last week, preliminary results indicated absentee ballots accounted for about seven in 10 of all ballots cast, compared with 12% during a Wisconsin Supreme Court election last year. Some of Pennsylvania’s most populous counties have begun asking about conducting the June 2 primary election entirely by mail amid fears the pandemic will pose a threat to poll workers and voters.
Meantime, the Health Department said Tuesday that 60 deaths of people with COVID-19 were reported over the prior day, raising the state’s running total to 584. There were 1,146 new cases of infection, for a statewide total of more than 25,000. The number of new deaths represents a spike from recent days — there were just 17 on Monday and 13 on Sunday. The state’s health secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, said part of the increase was attributable to a lag time in reporting of deaths over the weekend.
For most people, the virus 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.
Health providers and laboratories are largely failing to abide by a state requirement to provide data on the race and ethnicity of Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 patients, according to Levine. She said the information is missing from over 60% of the coronavirus case reports submitted to the Department of Health, hampering the state’s ability to accurately gauge the pandemic’s impact on Pennsylvania residents.
The agency used its emergency communications network on Tuesday to remind labs and health providers to submit the demographic data. Nationally, an Associated Press review of nearly 3,300 COVID-19 deaths found that African-Americans accounted for 42% of the toll, twice their share of the population in the areas covered by the analysis.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Monday said liquor sales in six Ohio counties would be restricted to individuals with valid Ohio ID or proof that they work in Ohio for an essential business. The governor cited the decision of Pennsylvania to close its liquor stores on March 17, followed by the decision earlier this month by several county health boards in northern West Virginia to limit liquor sales to state residents only, out of fears of an influx of out-of-state residents.
Four of the six counties border Pennsylvania; three border West Virginia. DeWine said those moves then pushed out-of-state people into Ohio. DeWine called his restriction a “work in progress” and said that if additional counties have a significant influx of customers from out of state, he’ll take additional action.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he has directed a halt to U.S. payments to the World Health Organization during the coronavirus pandemic pending a review of its warnings about the virus and China. Trump says the outbreak could have been contained at its source and lives could have been spared had the U.N. health agency done a better job investigating reports coming out of China.
The president says the world depends on the WHO to work with countries to make sure accurate information about health threats is shared in a timely manner. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says now is not the time to end support for the World Health Organization.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’s open to some states “reopening” before federal social distancing guidelines expire at the end of month. He appears to be backing off his claim of absolute authority to decide when the time is right to act.
Hours earlier, he suggested that the bipartisan concerns of governors about his assertion of power would amount to an insurrection. He now says he will leave it to governors to determine the right time and manner to reopen activity in their states. Trump says he will be discussing his plans with governors, probably on Thursday.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida judge is asking attorneys to get out of bed and put on some clothes when they show up for court hearings on Zoom. Broward County’s courts are using the video conferencing site for hearings during the coronavirus pandemic.
Circuit Judge Dennis Bailey complained in a letter to the Weston Bar Association that one male lawyer appeared shirtless and a female attorney was still in bed and under the covers. And he says a beach cover-up won’t hide that a lawyer is poolside in a bathing suit. Broward County courts have held about 1,200 court hearings with 14,000 participants on Zoom since last month.
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s the NFL draft, coronavirus edition. The three-day selection process to bring college talent into the league had been set for April 23-25 in Las Vegas. But that changed when COVID-19 changed everything. ESPN and NFL Network will team up for the broadcast, which will air on both outlets all three days. There will be hosts and commentators in studios for the event — but they will observe social distancing rules. Commissioner Roger Goodell (guh-DEHL’) will introduce the first-round picks from his home in Bronxville, New York, just north of the city.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Most people agree on who’d be considered as essential employees during the coronavirus pandemic. Of course, there are those who work at hospitals, police, fire and ambulance services. And there are those who work at grocery stores or pharmacies. But pro wrestlers? Yep, says the state of Florida, where the governor has added sports to the list of businesses that can be open, provided they don’t invite fans. That gives World Wrestling Entertainment the right to keep doing shows. At a news conference yesterday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said people are “champing at the bit” for ways to boost morale while stuck at home. He says he’d like to see other sporting events return, too.
SANDY HOOK, N.J. (AP) — You can get a good idea what people throw away by going to the beach, since the stuff people ditch often makes its way back to shore. In New Jersey, volunteers at spring and fall cleanups are noting trends. For example, there’s a rise in the number of empty vaping pods washing ashore — while there are fewer plastic bags, cups and coffee stirrers. Then, there are the weird things. Among items recovered recently: boxer shorts, a turkey baster, plastic vampire teeth, a coconut, a full jar of pickles — and a pregnancy test.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — A kindergarten class in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, took Jon Bon Jovi’s songwriting challenge and he rewarded them with a visit to their virtual classroom. Last month, Bon Jovi released an incomplete version of the song “Do What You Can,” about the coronavirus pandemic, and asked fans to write the last verses. The Palm Beach Post reports Bon Jovi fan Michael Bonick had his kindergarten class at Marsh Pointe Elementary School work on the song. Bon Jovi met with the kids Monday in an online session and performed what three of the students had written. Bon Jovi told the kids if they put their feelings onto paper, they sometimes turn into songs or stories and “you never know where it might lead you.”.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
