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COVID-19

Pitt virus therapy ‘shows promise’

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have developed a potential COVID-19 therapy from llama “nanobodies” that lab tests show is “orders of magnitude” more powerful against the virus than antibodies from people who have recovered from infection. The researchers will be working through trials in hopes of producing a medication that could be manufactured and distributed easily and used as an inhalant to both prevent and treat the disease. The tiny, single-chain nanobodies have a “perfect structure” that enables them to bind to and disable the ...

State DoH preparing for COVID-19 vaccines

State Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine is warning Pennsylvanians not to expect “a magical cure” from the COVID-19 vaccines being developed under the federal Operation Warp Speed for distribution and delivery by her Department of Health. Experts are expecting that the COVID-19 vaccines eventually approved at the federal level will work like vaccines for the flu, conferring immunity on only 40%, 50% or 60% of recipients, while helping make illnesses shorter and milder for the rest, Levine said in a Webex call Thursday with reporters. Moreover, her department’s plan will be to ...

Area coronavirus cases reach record high again

On Friday, for the second day in a row and the fifth day in two weeks, Pennsylvania set a record for new coronavirus cases, with 3,384, according to daily figures supplied by the state Department of Health. Friday’s record is 484 higher than Thursday’s. The new cases bring the state’s total for the pandemic to 223,950. The recent daily records eclipse the spring high of 1,989, as initially reported on April 9. On Friday, the DoH also reported 38 new deaths, bringing the state’s pandemic total to 8,975. The number of daily deaths has been rising, but not nearly as steeply ...

Blair, state set COVID-19 case records

(This story was updated to fix incorrect information at 1:20 p.m. Friday). Blair County this week set a record for daily COVID-19 cases, while the state Thursday set its fourth record in a week with 2,900 infections. Blair County’s count reached 80 on Sunday and Wednesday, then fell one short of that on Thursday — the latest in a run of numbers higher than at any previous time in the pandemic. The community spread that has been causing the rise locally is reflected in the positivity rate for symptomatic patients at UPMC’s Pleasant Valley Boulevard test center, which for the past ...

HASD opts to delay in-person classes again

The Hollidaysburg Area School Board has decided to again delay its return to full-time, in-person learning. In a letter to parents sent Thursday evening, Superintendent Robert Gildea said the board decided to keep students in a hybrid setting through Thanksgiving break due to the recent spike in local COVID-19 cases. Blair County is in the “substantial” range of new cases as designated by the state Department of Health. Gildea cited 427 additional cases in the county during the past five days, along with two district ZIP codes — 16648 and 16635 — having “the highest ...

Future of virus in US still uncertain

Regardless of the presidential election outcome, a vexing issue remains to be decided: Will the U.S. be able to tame a perilous pandemic that is surging as holidays, winter and other challenges approach? Public health experts fear the answer is no, at least in the short term, with potentially dire consequences. Donald Trump’s current term doesn’t end until Jan. 20. In the 86 days until then, 100,000 more Americans will likely die from the virus if the president doesn’t shift course, said Dr. Robert Murphy, executive director of the Institute for Global Health at ...