Coronavirus spreads in Pennsylvania, as cancellations grow
Pennsylvania is confirming more cases of the new coronavirus, as more schools canceled classes, travel or events. The state Department of Health reported another positive test for COVID-19 on Tuesday in a resident of Montgomery County. Philadelphia also reported its first test. That brings the statewide total to at least 11, while Germantown Academy says a student has been sickened after their parent tested positive. All people who tested positive live in eastern Pennsylvania, and nearly all are believed to have contracted it by traveling outside the state. Meanwhile, the 2020 Northeast Regional Science Olympiad at Penn State Wilkes-Barre was canceled.

Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden Monday night questioned President Donald Trump’s “competence and capability” for handling the coronavirus public health threat, and claimed the president is “imploding in the process” and said he should “be quiet” and let the experts speak. Further, Biden claimed that the Trump administration hasn’t moved to take advantage of the capabilities of the health community, including preparing local hospitals, providing equipment, or training personnel.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that the Justice Department must give Congress secret grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. The ruling gives the House a win in a separation-of-powers clash with the Trump administration. The three-judge panel said in a 2-1 opinion that House Democrats were entitled to the material as part of their ongoing investigation into President Donald Trump’s conduct.

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle’s downtown streets are nearly empty as people work from home to avoid possible spread of the coronavirus. That means fewer customers for restaurants and shops that rely on the normally bustling traffic from Amazon employees and others. Business groups are trying to work with the city and state to get emergency relief for business owners and hourly employees. Amazon and Microsoft have both said they will keep paying hourly workers while their campuses are largely shut down. Restaurants and food trucks that are normally filled with people say they’ve seen their business plummet recently.

BEIJING (AP) — New York’s governor is sending the National Guard into a New York suburb to help fight what appears to be the nation’s biggest known cluster of coronavirus cases. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that schools, houses of worship and large gathering places will be shuttered for two weeks in a “containment area” centered in suburban New Rochelle. He told reporters that National Guard troops will help clean surfaces and deliver food around a synagogue. Cuomo says “It’s a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster of cases in the country.” New Rochelle is at the center of 108 cases in Westchester County, out of 173 statewide.

ROME (AP) — An extraordinary, sweeping lockdown is in place in Italy because of the coronavirus, with travel restrictions being enforced by soldiers and police. In China, the diminishing threat prompted President Xi Jinping to visit the epicenter of Wuhan and declare: “We will certainly defeat this epidemic.” Caseloads are increasing in France, Spain and Germany, and fear is growing in the United States, where more than 750 people are infected and even some senior political leaders are putting themselves under quarantine. U.S. stocks, oil and other financial markets around the world clawed back some ground after their historic plunge Monday on hopes that the U.S. and other governments will pump in more aid for the virus-weakened global economy..

Proposed legislation would create an IRA savings program for private-sector employers. Andrea Sears reports…