One-time stimulus checks arriving to help restart economy
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Government relief checks began arriving in Americans' bank accounts as the economic damage to the United States from the coronavirus piled up Wednesday and the reopening of stores in Europe and China made it clear that business won't necessarily bounce right back when the crisis eases.With lockdowns and other restrictions bringing factories to a shuddering halt, American industrial output shriveled in March, registering its biggest decline since the U.S. demobilized in 1946 at the end of World War II. And retail sales fell by an unprecedented 8.7 percent, with April expected to be far worse.The world's biggest economy this week began issuing one-time payments to tens of millions of people as part of its $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package, with adults receiving up to $1,200 each and $500 per child to help households make the rent or cover other bills. The checks will be directly deposited into bank accounts or mailed to households, depending on how they filed their tax returns in the past.The first steps in lifting the economically crippling restrictions in other parts of the world are running into resistance, with shoppers and other customers staying away from the reopened businesses and workers afraid the newly restored freedoms could put their health at risk.Worldwide, deaths have topped 128,000 and confirmed infections have surpassed 2 million, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. The figures understate the true size of the crisis, in part because of limited testing, different ways of counting the dead, and concealment by some governments.The U.S. has reported more than 26,000 deaths — the highest in the world — and more than 600,000 confirmed infections, by Johns Hopkins' count. Still, the nightmare scenarios projecting a far greater number of deaths and hospitalizations have not come to pass, raising hopes from coast to coast.Statewide, Pennsylvania saw 1,145 new cases reported overnight, with 63 deaths.Closer to home, Butler County reports seven new cases of the virus overnight, including eight patients at Butler Memorial Hospital - six with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and three listed in the hospital's ICU.
Confirmed cases: 150Deaths: 5
New cases: 1,145Total cases: 26,490New deaths: 63Total deaths: 647Negative tests: 111,094
Inpatients: 8Suspected: 2Confirmed: 6ICU: 3Total tests: 2,023Outdoor tests: 1,514Positive tests: 171 with 67 tests pending
Inpatients: 2Confirmed: 2ICU: 1Total tests: 439Outdoor tests: 363Positive tests: 15 with 24 tests pending
• Allegheny: 904 confirmed cases and 26 deaths• Westmoreland: 237 confirmed cases and 11 deaths• Beaver: 158 confirmed cases and 14 deaths• Lawrence: 55 confirmed cases and 5 deaths• Mercer: 47 confirmed cases• Armstrong: 29 confirmed cases and 1 death• Clarion: 16 confirmed cases• Venango: 6 confirmed cases
