Trump says feds developing new guidelines for virus risk
By ZEKE MILLER and ALAN SUDERMAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says that federal officials are developing guidelines to rate counties by risk of virus spread. Trump wants to begin easing nationwide guidelines meant to stem the coronavirus outbreak. In a letter Thursday to the nation’s governors, Trump says the new guidelines are meant to enable state and local leaders to make “decisions about maintaining, increasing, or relaxing social distancing and other measures they have put in place.” Trump has been seeking for days to determine how to contain the economic fallout of the guidelines issued by his administration as well as local leaders to slow the tide of infections. States would still have authority to set restrictions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is forecasting quick bipartisan approval of the massive $2.2 trillion coronavirus economic relief bill approved by the Senate. The Senate unanimously passed the bill late Wednesday. Pelosi says the House will vote on the package Friday and she expects it will pass with “strong bipartisan support.” The package comes as fresh evidence emerges that the U.S. is sinking into recession.  The government on Thursday reported 3.3 million new weekly unemployment claims, four times the previous record. President Donald Trump has implored lawmakers to finish the package so he can sign it into law.

NEW YORK (AP) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the economic toll of the coronavirus outbreak will be dramatic in New York. And he castigated federal officials Thursday for what he called a failure to address lost revenue in their $2.2 trillion relief package.  Cuomo said the outbreak creates a “double whammy” of increased state costs and lost revenue as businesses shutter and workers are laid off. A health care worker at one of the New York City hospitals under siege by the coronavirus has died. Co-workers and his sister say assistant nurse manager Kious Kelly died Tuesday from the virus after he got sick two weeks ago. Kelly worked at Mount Sinai Health West Hospital in Manhattan.

UNDATED (AP) — Italy has reported 6,153 new coronavirus infections, pushing the global total over half a million, based on a count kept by Johns Hopkins University. Italy now has 80,539 cases, almost as many as China. Italy’s Civil Protection Agency reported 662 deaths on Thursday, bringing the country’s death toll to 8,165, which is the highest in the world.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvanians filed about 650,000 unemployment compensation claims over the past 11 days as the coronavirus has spread and thousands of businesses closed or laid off employees. That’s according to information released Thursday. The single highest day was Friday, when more than 90,000 people filed claims. That was the day after Gov. Tom Wolf unveiled an order for “non-life-sustaining” businesses to shut down in an effort to help stop the spread of the virus. In the seven days through Saturday, Pennsylvanians filed about 379,000 claims, smashing the record for an entire week in the state. In the four days since then, Pennsylvanians have filed another 271,000.

CINCINNATI (AP) — A Florida spring breaker seen in a viral video last week saying “if I get corona, I get corona” is apologizing for his reaction to the coronavirus. Brady Sluder says in an Instagram post that he owns up to his mistake and he didn’t realize the impact of his words. The 22-year-old from the Cincinnati area told a TV news crew in Miami last week that he wasn’t going to let concerns over the coronavirus stop him from partying. The video was shared widely across social media and shown as an example of young people ignoring warnings about the pandemic.

PHOENIX (AP) — A Phoenix-area man has died and his wife is in critical condition after the couple took an additive used to clean fish tanks known as chloroquine phosphate, similar to the drug used to treat malaria. Banner Health said on Monday that the couple in their 60s got sick within half an hour. Last week, President Donald Trump touted that the malaria medication chloroquine was a known treatment for COVID-19. The chief of the Food and Drug Administration clarified that the drug still needs to be tested for that use. The woman told NBC that the president said the drug was essentially a cure. She said people should not taking anything and call their doctors. Banner Health is warning against self-medicating.

Democrats are discussing “contingency plans” to make sure the party’s July convention happens amid the coronavirus pandemic, even if that means going entirely digital. So far, there is no decision yet to postpone or cancel the convention in anyway, but officials are looking at contingencies.” The convention is set to take place in Milwaukee, though many states have shelter at home orders in place to limit travel as the number of coronavirus continue to spike in the United States.

Primanti Brothers officials say they are giving away a free beer to every customer who orders takeout today at any of their locations across P-A. Restaurant officials say customers must be 21-years or older and show a valid I-D when they pick up their call-in or online order. Their spokesperson said with nearly two weeks at home that he needed a beer and their customers need a beer, so they are giving away that beer. The beers are sealed and cannot be consumed at the restaurant.

Who would have thought that a change that is so disruptive to every part of American life would occur, shifting everyone’s focus from routine life and planning for the future to the survival of our businesses and the health and safety of our employees and families. Our world and business climate have come to a significant detour for many, and a screeching halt for others, all due to COVID-19 (also known as the Coronavirus).

So, how do we deal with it…

First of course, we need to protect our people. Second, we need to go into triage to keep our organizations afloat so we can help our members and our communities remain viable during this crisis. Third, we need to provide information resources so that our members and community can survive until longer time help arrives. And finally, we need to be there to help others who are not able to deal with this crisis as effectively as others.

The Beaver County Chamber of Commerce and others in the business support and economic development community are committed to provide support for our businesses through this crisis and after it is over.  We are in constant contact with our public and private sector partners at the local, state and federal level in monitoring and communicating programs and initiatives to help business and industry impacted by COVID-19.  Our website (www.bcchamber.com) home page now includes a red bar at the top of the page with this message:   Beaver County Chamber COVID-19 Update – Click Here to provide easy access to resources.  Check back periodically as the resources are changing frequently.  

While our physical Chamber office is closed, we remain fully ‘OPEN FOR BUSINESS’.  We encourage members and non-members alike to call the Chamber’s office at 724-775-3944 for questions regarding doing business in this challenging environment.  We stand ready to serve, and will continue, especially under these circumstances, to stay focused in our quest to foster the best environment in Beaver County to live, work and do business.  You can also reach Chamber staff via email at info@bcchamber.com.  Like so many other businesses, our staff is working from home offices now.  We’re finding our way in our new reality, and it is our sincere hope that our members continue to reach out to us and each other in support.