LATEST UPDATE: Still no coronavirus in Columbia, Montour

DANVILLE — The three patients “presumed positive” for the coronavirus that Geisinger health systems says it has treated were outside the area, according to the latest numbers the state Health Department released Wednesday afternoon.

None of the state’s reported 133 cases of COVID-19 were from Columbia, Montour or Northumberland counties, though the number of counties reporting infections jumped from 15 to 18.

The number of cases rose by 37, up from 96 on Tuesday.

Geisinger reports first cases of coronavirus

Geisinger confirmed Tuesday that its hospitals have had three patients with presumed positive results for the virus that causes COVID-19 , but details were scarce.

In a press release, the hospital system said that its officials would collaborate with the Pennsylvania Department of Health on the ongoing care and monitoring of the patients. It did not specify which hospitals the patients had been seen at. A spokesman said the Department of Health would have to release any information about the patients' location, and a call and email there was not immediately returned.

Geisinger preps tents for coronavirus treatment

DANVILLE — Geisinger emergency doctor Doug Kupas predicts it’s only a matter of time until Columbia and Montour counties confirm their first cases of coronavirus.

“We should all just expect that over the next days or weeks we’re going to have cases in every county in Pennsylvania” Kupas said Tuesday, outside Geisinger Medical Center’s emergency center.

That’s where Geisinger yesterday set up a 40-foot by 40-foot tent where patients with coronavirus symptoms will be treated in the days and weeks to come.

Pennsylvania shuts down: Gov orders all non-essential business activity to cease

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf extended a shutdown order to the entire state of Pennsylvania in an effort to halt the spread of the coronavirus, he said Monday.

Wolf had already called for nonessential government offices to close and nonessential business activity to end in four heavily populated southeastern Pennsylvania counties.

On Monday, he extended that order to the rest of the state.

All Pa. schools closed for two weeks

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf is ordering the closure of all schools in Pennsylvania for two weeks, as the state takes sweeping measures aimed at slowing the spread of the new coronavirus.

The order affecting more than 1.7 million school children, in public and private schools, came as confirmed cases in the state leaped to 33 from 22, including the first patient under 18. He said schools won't be penalized if they are unable to reach the 180 days of instruction required under state law.

Suspicious pipe in Danville not a threat

DANVILLE — A pipe bomb scare shut down busy Railroad Street near Dunkin Donuts for more than two hours Thursday after a small white plastic container was seen lying in a grassy lot behind Buckley’s Carpet here.

The eight-inch long pipe with caps at both ends turned out to be innocuous, police say.

But they weren't sure of that when a passing motorist spotted it in the grass near a busy restaurant and intersection. Authorities cordoned off all traffic at Railroad and Walnut streets around noon, Danville Police Officer Jonathan Swank said.

Man badly injured in farming accident

FISHING CREEK TWP. — A 61-year-old man badly injured his arms while while working on his farm Wednesday afternoon.

Randy Hack, 412 Paper Dale Road, Stillwater, was grinding corn from a small silo on his 119-acre dairy farm around 1 p.m. when the accident happened, said friend Dennis Hess.

The corn was being sent up a small, inclined grain elevator powered at its base by an International Harvester tractor; the grain went into a grinder at the top, and was then loaded into a bin on another tractor, Hess said.

Murder suspect dies

BLOOMSBURG — A sickly murder suspect awaiting trial on charges he shot his wife to death in their rural Benton home died Sunday night at Geisinger Medical Center, his lawyer and prison officials confirmed.

John Alan Deeter, 69, who suffered from advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease, was taken to Geisinger from Columbia County Prison last week after taking “a turn for the worst,” Prison Warden David Varano said.

SUV crashes into diner

BLOOMSBURG — An SUV crashed into the back of the Bloomsburg Diner Saturday morning, but no one was hurt, and restaurant staff barely paused in serving up eggs and hash browns to the breakfast rush.

David Engelhardt, 22, of Northumberland, was at the wheel of the gray 2011 GMC Acadia at 8:24 a.m. when he tried to hit the brake and accidentally hit the gas, said Detective Melanie Beck.

The SUV jumped the curb on the side parking lot, then went over a low cement wall to smash into the restaurant’s back corner.

Geisinger reports no confirmed coronavirus cases

DANVILLE – Despite rumors to the contrary, Geisinger Health System says it has not treated any patients with coronavirus. 

Governor Tom Wolf on Friday confirmed Pennsylvania’s first two coronavirus cases, and neither was local. 

An adult in Wayne County was diagnosed with the virus after traveling outside the U.S. to a country which has confirmed coronavirus cases, according to the governor’s office. 

The second case involves an adult from Delaware County near Philadelphia. That patient had traveled within the United States where coronavirus was present.

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