The Herald's Weekly Virus Update

The Morrisons Cove Herald again is providing articles about the coronavirus. The information below is the latest that could be included in this week’s edition. This information is taken from the sources listed at the end of the article. Blair and Bedford counties are in the state’s Yellow Phase.

AS OF 8:30 A.M. WEDNESDAY, MAY 27

Blair County

• 48 cases confirmed, up from 38 cases confirmed, 1 death

Bedford County

• 37 cases confirmed, up from 32 cases, 2 deaths

Nearby counties

Cambria: 57 cases, up from 54 – 2 deaths

Somerset: 37 cases, up from 36 cases – 0 deaths*

Huntingdon: 228 cases, up from 214 – 1 death

Fulton: 15 cases, up from 12 – 1 death

Centre: 148 cases, up from 132 – 6 deaths

Pa. Statewide

• Total of 68,637 cases, up from 63,666 last Wednesday

• 5,152 deaths, up from 4,624 last Wednesday

• 339,835 Pa. patients who have tested negative to date, up from 286,034 last Wednesday

• Pa. county with most cases: Philadelphia, 17,597, up from 16,487 – 1,232 deaths, up from 1,109 deaths

Nearby states

New York: 363,836 cases, up from 352,845 – 28,313 deaths, up from 27,671

New Jersey: 155,764 cases, up from 149,013 – 11,191 deaths, up from 10,586

United States

• 1,672,000 cases, up from 1,521,000 – 97,831 deaths, up from 90,000

Worldwide

• 5,605,000 cases, up from 4,912,180 – 349,000 deaths, up from 322,464

Latest developments

• The United States has crossed an uneasy threshold, with all 50 states beginning to reopen in some way two months after the coronavirus thrust the country into lockdown.

• About a dozen U.S. states are seeing an uptick in new virus cases, bucking the national trend of staying steady or seeing decreases. At least half of the states seeing more infections were part of an early wave of reopenings in late April and early May, among them Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. New coronavirus cases have also continued to rise in North Carolina, where the Republican National Convention is scheduled to be held in August. President Trump threatened on Monday to move the convention unless Gov. Roy Cooper provided a “guarantee” that there would be no virus-related restrictions on the size of the event. Mr. Cooper, a Democrat, refused to do so on Tuesday. The new numbers could reflect increased testing capacity in some places, though they also indicate that the virus’s grip on the country is far from over.

• More than two and a half months after shutting down because of the coronavirus outbreak, the National Hockey League became the largest North American professional sports league to announce definitive plans for a return.

• France on Wednesday revoked the authorization allowing hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19 patients, moving a day after halting the use of the malaria drug in clinical trials. Both steps come on the back of moves by the World Health Organization to temporarily remove the drug from global trials over safety concerns.

• Wall Street’s focus was on economic recovery Tuesday, and stocks rallied along with crude oil prices. The S&P 500 rose more than 1 percent, with shares of companies most likely to benefit from the lifting of restrictions on travel and commerce faring well. Shares of Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and other big carriers rose, as did Marriott International. Oil prices have been climbing all month as the restarting of factories and resumption of travel raised expectations that demand would rise. On Tuesday, West Texas intermediate crude rose another 3 percent, and shares of companies in the energy industry, like Chevron and Halliburton, were also higher.

• The European Union’s executive arm laid out on Wednesday the details of a recovery package worth 750 billion euros, or about $826 billion, for its 27 member economies, especially those hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns put in place to stop its spread.

• Ten days of national mourning for the victims of the coronavirus began on Wednesday in Spain, the longest official mourning period in the country’s modern history.

What you can do

• Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.

• Cover any coughs or sneezes with your elbow, not your hands.

• Clean surfaces frequently.

• Stay home to avoid spreading COVID-19, especially if you are unwell.

How It Spreads

Coronavirus disease spreads primarily through contact with an infected person when they cough or sneeze. It also spreads when a person touches a surface or object that has the virus on it, then touches their eyes, nose, or mouth.

Sources: Washington Post, New York Times, Pa. Department of Health