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Coronavirus

Warren County statewide vaccination rate still lagging

The rate of positive COVID-19 test results slowed over Christmas in Warren County, but 82 new cases have been confirmed since Dec. 20. That includes 24 and 21 cases on Dec. 20 and 21, respectively, as well as 15 on Dec. 22 and 12 on Dec. 23. Christmas Eve brought two cases; Christmas saw four; and the last two days of data show three each. One death was added to the total on Dec. 22, bringing the county’s death toll to 178. From a case perspective, the state Department of Health now reports 4,420 cases confirmed in the county with another 1,136 probables for a total of 5,556. Four ...

FEMA to help Pennsylvania hospitals with COVID surge

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania hospitals overwhelmed with the latest COVID-19 surge will get help from federal teams as Gov. Tom Wolf's administration finalizes the details, Wolf's office said Tuesday. Wolf's administration did not give details about how many people will be in the federal "strike teams," what sort of expertise or equipment they will bring with them and when they could feasibly arrive at hospitals in Pennsylvania. In a statement, Wolf's acting secretary of health, Keara Klinepeter, said Wolf's administration is working to determine which hospitals will receive ...

New COVID-19 cases in US soar to highest levels on record

CHICAGO (AP) — More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have soared to the highest level on record at over 265,000 per day on average, a surge driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant. The previous mark was 250,000 cases per day, ...

Five stories that grabbed your attention this year

Editor’s Note: This is the first of five stories highlighting some of the most-read stories in the Times Observer during the past year. Today’s series focuses on area businesses. As it turns out, one of the year’s most-read stories made ripples across the state. Details emerged in ...

CDC recommends shorter COVID isolation, quarantine for all

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials on Monday cut isolation restrictions for Americans who catch the coronavirus from 10 to five days, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said the guidance is in ...

Lack of emergency order or regulation doomed mask mandate

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The state Supreme Court on Thursday released its rationale for why it ruled that Gov. Tom Wolf's administration had no legal authority to require masks in Pennsylvania's schools and child care centers, even amid a pandemic and surging cases of COVID-19. The Democratic-majority court ruled 6-0 on Dec. 10, immediately ending the statewide mask mandate, except in school districts that still required them. Justice Thomas Saylor did not participate in the decision. The justices' 58-page opinion released Thursday does not discuss whether school districts have the ...