Governor orders Luzerne residents to "stay at home"

Luzerne County on Friday was added to the list of Pennsylvania counties under Gov. Tom Wolf’s “stay at home” order after the county recorded its second coronavirus death in three days, and confirmed cases of the illness jumped 53 percent.

The order, which started 8 p.m. Friday and will be in effect until at least April 6, means Luzerne residents — including those in East Berwick, Nescopeck and Shickshinny — can leave home only to perform tasks essential to maintain health and safety.

Vandals cause up to $8G damage to Hess Recreation Area

MAHONING TWP. — Vandals tore up sports fields at the Hess Recreation Area here sometime late Thursday or early Friday, with what appears to be one truck and one car, police say.

They caused up to $8,000 worth of damages, according to Montour Area Recreation Commission director Bob Stoudt.

“Based on the tire tracks and patterns, it looks like two vehicles hitting the wettest parts of ground,” Stoudt said last night.

Berwick Hospital sees its first COVID-19 case

BERWICK — Berwick Hospital confirmed Thursday it has treated its first patient testing positive for the new coronavirus.

That infected patient was separated from non-infected patients while at Berwick Hospital and ultimately discharged for home quarantine, according to a memo distributed Tuesday by Berwick Hospital owner Commonwealth Health to its employees. 

The number of area coronavirus cases continued to climb yesterday as Evangelical Hospital in Lewisburg announced that two of its patients had tested positive for the potentially deadly respiratory illness. 

One man dies from COVID-19 in Luzerne

WILKES-BARRE -- A 70-year-old Luzerne County man is the area's first confirmed death from the new coronavirus strain. Officials said he recently traveled outside the country and had pre-existing health problems.

Luzerne County Manager David Pedri did not have any more information about the man, and didn't know where he lived.

But Pedri said that with the death and Luzerne’s number or reported cases swelling — it had 27 reported cases as of midday Wednesday — "every single citizen should be under the assumption it is present in their municipality.”

UPDATE: Luzerne at 21 COVID-19 cases, Montour at 3

HARRISBURG — The most recent numbers from the Department of Health show an increase in confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Luzerne County, as well as new cases in Montour County.

Across the state, 851 people have tested positive for COVID-19, while seven people have died.

In Luzerne County, cases more than doubled from Monday to Tuesday. A total of 21 people have tested positive, up from 10 the previous day.

Three people in Montour County reportedly have tested positive for the disease, a jump from one on Monday.

Wolf shuts school for two more weeks; issues stay-at-home order for two counties

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday ordered residents of Pennsylvania's hardest-hit areas to stay home for at least two weeks to help combat the spread of the new coronavirus that has already sickened hundreds and caused six deaths statewide.

He also shuttered all schools statewide for an additional two weeks.

Noting that Philadelphia has already ordered residents to remain home, Wolf issued his own stay-at-home order for the counties around the city; for Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh; and for Monroe County in the Pocono Mountains.

Columbia County has its first COVID-19 case

HARRISBURG — Columbia County now has one confirmed case of the new coronavirus strain, while Montour County remains at one case as well.

Luzerne jumped from six to seven cases from Saturday to Sunday, while Northumberland still has no reported cases.

Across the state, the number of confirmed positive cases jumped from 371 Saturday to 479 on Sunday.

The death count in the state remained at two, one in Northampton County and one in Allegheny County.

Montour County has first COVID-19 case

DANVILLE — The state says that Montour County has a patient with the new coronavirus.

In numbers released at noon Saturday, Montour County had one of the 371 positive test results in Pennsylvania.

Luzerne County now has six cases, up from two on Friday. Both Columbia and Northumberland counties still have not reported a case.

Across the state, cases in the state jumped from 185 on Thursday to 268 on Friday to 371 on Saturday.

Governor orders non-life-sustaining businesses to shut down

(Here's a link to the governor's list: https://www.pressenterpriseonline.com/system/files/breaking-news/documents/20200319-life-sustaining-business.pdf)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf is tightening his directives to businesses to shut down, issuing a dire warning and saying Thursday that all “non-life-sustaining” businesses in Pennsylvania must close their physical locations by 8 p.m. to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Courts close statewide

Courts at all levels are closing statewide starting Friday, except for a few urgent functions, as state Supreme Court declared a judicial emergency Wednesday night.

The closure will last through April 3, maybe later, as the state tries to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Pages