Pennsylvania orders hospitals to protect workers from virus
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM and MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania hospitals will be required to replace soiled or damaged respirators on request, require universal masking and take other steps to protect health care workers from the new coronavirus under an order issued Tuesday by the state health secretary. With unionized nurses raising the alarm about hazardous working conditions, Health Secretary Rachel Levine pledged to “deliver a safer environment” for health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 death toll passed 6,000 as the Health Department reported 61 additional deaths linked to the disease. Since early March, infections have been confirmed in more than 76,400 people in Pennsylvania.