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COVID-19

Blair may get more test sites

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The state Department of Health may provide Blair County with additional COVID-19 testing resources in light of increasing positive test results. Public Safety Director Mark Taylor told commissioners Tuesday that the state is asking if the county is interested in contracted testing services. The state holds a contract with AMI Expeditionary Healthcare to set up COVID-19 testing sites in designated Pennsylvania communities. It’s the department’s belief, according to its announcements, that more testing in a community will help determine the prevalence of the virus ...

A fresh start — Altoona students to step foot in newly built high school

After months of anticipation, Altoona Area High School students are set to step foot into their new school. Workers broke ground on the nearly $80 million project, which included a new B building and renovations to the A building, in the spring of 2018. Two and a half years later, ...

COVID-19 tests ought to be free

COVID-19 testing is more than a matter of individuals safeguarding their own health and that of their families. It has become an important tool in limiting the disease’s spread. Recognizing that, members of Congress included an important testing provision in the CARES Act approved earlier this year. It is that people can obtain COVID-19 tests without having to pay out of their own pockets. Leave it to the federal bureaucracy — the swamp, if you prefer — to strangle a prudent initiative with red tape. Fifty-four members of the House of Representatives, led by U.S. Reps. David ...

Blair eyes surge in COVID-19 cases

Altoona has become a hotbed in Blair County’s surge of coronavirus cases, and Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator Tim Hileman suggested the city and county adopt mitigation actions that were in place in late May. Citing White House Coronavirus Task Force and Harvard Global Health Institute guidelines, Hileman recommended to City Council Monday that masks be mandated in all indoor spaces and worn by everyone outside the home; that schools resort to remote learning, that gatherings be limited to 25 people, that gyms be limited to 25 percent of capacity, that restaurants ...

Diocese reports virus case

An individual who attended three Masses last week at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Altoona has tested positive for COVID-19, said Tony DeGol, spokesman for the Diocese of Johnstown-Altoona. The person was present at the 10 a.m. Mass on Nov. 1 and the 6:45 a.m. Masses on Nov. 2 and 3, DeGol said in a news release, adding that the Cathedral is undergoing additional sanitization. DeGol reminded clergy and the faithful of Bishop Mark L. Bartchak’s directive to wear masks and practice physical distancing at all Masses and other church activities. DeGol said the ...

Levine: Pa. at ‘critical point’

As new coronavirus cases explode, Pennsylvania’s top health official on Monday warned the state is at a “critical point” in the pandemic and begged recalcitrant residents to wear masks, avoid congregating and take other simple preventative measures to slow the spread. Infections, hospitalizations and the percentage of virus tests coming back positive continue to climb sharply, according to state data reported Monday, indicating the virus is spreading more rapidly than at any point since the beginning of the pandemic. No region of Pennsylvania has been spared, with 38 of 67 ...