The Pennsylvania Department of Health Tuesday added 2076 new cases of COVID-19 to the state total. That pushes the state's overall number to 1,240,032. 11 new COVID-related deaths were also reported, leaving the state with 27,914 since the pandemic began. There are currently 847 people hospitalized with COVID-19. 204 of them are in the intensive care unit.
As cases of COVID continue to head in the wrong direction in his state, Gov. Tom Wolf is taking action. "On September 7th we're going to start with those facilities that the commonwealth owns that are congregate care facilities like veterans homes and a bunch of others and we will be giving those employees a choice to either their their vaccine or they're going to have to be tested," Wolf says. That affects about 25,000 employees. Wolf is dangling a carrot to those still not vaccinated. He says beginning October 1, all vaccinated state employees under his jurisdiction will get an additional day off from work.
State health officials say 13 New Jersey children are hospitalized with COVID-19. This mom says despite the risk, she can't wait for her daughter to return to full-time in-school learning. "She chose to be home and just her being in her room for a whole school year took an emotional toll on her, so I'm ready for her to go back," the mom said. Pediatric COVID admission rates have tripled since January.
New Jersey is once again sending ppe overseas as coronavirus cases soar across the globe. Gov. Phil Murphy says 700,000 NK95 and N95 masks are heading to India. The Garden State is home to one of the nation's largest Indian communities and Murphy says officials are committed to supporting India in whatever way possible to battle the virus.
A Virginia man is dead after a crash in Northampton County on Monday. 30-year-old Reginald Wilson was one of the drivers involved in the two-vehicle wreck around 8:50 Monday morning on Route 512 in Hanover Township. Colonial Regional police are also investigating the wreck.
Pennsylvania state police say a Bethlehem woman's Facebook claim that somebody tried to kidnap her child are not true. Back on August 4th, a woman claimed on Facebook that her child was almost adbucted at the Airport Road Target store. State police say they were never notified of the alleged incident and there's no indication it ever happened. Investigators say they haven't found or spoken with the woman who made the post.
State and local lawmakers are discussing how to spend the possibly incoming funds from the recently passed Senate infrastructure bill. The U.S. Senate approved of the bill Tuesday, which would direct $1 trillion toward roads and bridges, public transportation, better broadband coverage and more. The U.S. House of Representatives still has to look over the bill and approve of it, but in the bill's current form, Pennsylvania is slated to receive about $19 billion for infrastructure.
New Jersey is poised to receive more than $12.3 billion from the federal infrastructure bill. The measure still needs to pass the House, which may not come until next month. If approved, Sen. Bob Menendez says $6.8 billion will be dedicated to highways and roads with another $1.1 billion going towards bridges. Electric vehicles, ferry service, and broadband would also receive funding. Meantime, a total of $4.1 billion could go to the state's transit system over the next five years.
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is committing to in-person learning this upcoming school year. Cardona was in the Lehigh Valley Tuesday, speaking to students at Northampton Community College about President Biden's Build Back Better plan. Cardona says we're opening up schools and we're giving our students an opportunity to learn in-person as we build back better. Biden's plan would provide two-years of free community college for students and expand the Pell Grant to provide more money for low-income students.
New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver will hold down the fort as Gov. Phil Murphy leaves for a trip out of state today. Murphy won't return to his post until August 19th.