Pennsylvania

• 8,420 confirmed cases, 53,695 tested negative, Deaths 102

Cases by county in the 10-county region per Pennsylvania Department of Health
* case count last updated at 12:00 p.m. on 4/3/2020

State Updates

• The PA Department of Education has allocated up to $5 million dollars in state funding for equity grants for schools to purchase computer equipment, such as laptops, tablets, and internet hot spots, or to use towards providing instructional materials, such as paper lessons and coursework.  PDE will also allocate new federal monies to these grants as the federal appropriations become available.  Schools with the highest percentages of students lacking access to resources will be given priority in receiving these grants.  Grant applications will be available on April 6 and must be submitted through PDE’s eGrants system by April 10.  More information can be found here.

• The Wolf Administration announced that it will stop paying about 9,000 state employees, which is more than 10% of its workforce, by the end of next week.  The affected employees have jobs that cannot be completed through teleworking.  Starting April 11, those workers will have to use vacation, sick, or other personal leave time if they want to continue receiving paychecks. Otherwise, they can file for unemployment.  The Administration will continue to provide healthcare benefits.  With about 5,700 individuals affected, PennDOT will be the hardest hit agency.

• The PA Supreme Court ruled in favor of tenants across the state when they ordered to extend the moratorium on evictions. Specifically, the Court order extended the statewide judicial emergency and court closures to April 30, prohibiting evictions until after that point. Attorney General Josh Shapiro requested that landlords and mortgage companies extend the moratorium themselves beyond the April 30 timeframe.  Many state legislators had weighed in with support on this issue as well.

Regional Coronavirus Update

Allegheny County

• The judicial emergency declared in March by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will now be extended through May 8 in Allegheny County, according to an order issued Thursday by county President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark.  Judge Clark’s order follows an extension of the statewide judicial emergency through April 30, ordered on Wednesday ordered by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

• The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus has jumped to 476 — an increase of 57 new cases in Allegheny County from Thursday, reflecting one of its lowest in recent days.  The Allegheny County Health Department stated that of those 476 cases of the viral disease, a total of 78 people have needed hospitalization.  The number of people in the county who have died as a result of complications from the fast-spreading virus remains at two -— about 10 more deaths from COVID-19 have been reported across Western Pennsylvania.

City of Pittsburgh

• Effective April 7, City Council meetings will be recorded and broadcasted on City Channel Pittsburgh.  City residents may also access the meeting videos online.  Public comments will need to be submitted to the Clerk’s Office email at cityclerksoffice@pittsburghpa.gov by the close of business Monday in order to be included in the official record of Council’s meetings.

• District 6 Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle has created a survey as a means of getting in touch with his constituents during this time of uncertainty. If you have elderly relatives who are residents of the district and lack internet access, please feel free to fill out the survey on their behalf. CLICK HERE to access the survey.

Westmoreland County

• Nearly 500 Westmoreland County non-essential government will be furloughed by the end of the day on Friday.  Furloughed workers will continue to receive health benefits.

Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank

• The Pennsylvania National Guard has been asked to help out the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank due to restrictions on volunteers.

Federal Coronavirus Update

The White House

• The White House is expected to announce a new policy which based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that would urge Americans to wear cloth masks in an effort to prevent coronavirus spread.  The CDC recommended that the public use homemade face coverings when in public, reserving higher-grade protective equipment like N95 masks for hospitals and health care workers, who have faced severe shortages in personal protective equipment as the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated through the United States.  However, coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said that encouraging mask use might interfere with the prior social distancing guidance which calls for people to stay home, avoid gatherings of more than 10 people and keep a safe distance from those other than family members.

• The president said he does not plan to issue a nationwide stay-at-home order although 40 of the states have implemented this order. The ten that have not are: Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.

U.S. House of Representatives

• U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that she will form a bipartisan select committee on the coronavirus crisis to oversee the spending of $2.3 trillion that Congress has approved to respond to the pandemic. Speaker Pelosi said lawmakers must ensure aid already approved gets to those who need it most, and a committee was needed to ensure fund are spent wisely and effectively. But Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has raised several objections to the idea of a select committee, including that it could not be created without a vote and Congress is out until April 20. McCarthy said there is already oversight from congressional committees and the new coronavirus laws.

U.S. Small Business Administration

• The Small Business Administration issued guidance for its Paycheck Protection Program—a key part of the economic stimulus package that allocates $349 billion for small businesses to access forgivable loans for payroll and overhead—hours ahead of its launch. American banks warned they wouldn’t be ready to lend. The program will offer loans of up to $10 million at 1% interest to companies and nonprofits with fewer than 500 workers so they can cover two months of payroll and overhead expenses.

National Coronavirus Update

• Target Corporation on Sunday will start limiting the number of shoppers it allows in its stores to enhance social distancing as the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the nation.  The retailer also will provide disposable face masks and gloves to 350,000 store and distribution centers workers in the next two weeks as well as to the shoppers Target employs through its Shipt same-day delivery operation.