Due to a lack of supply, the Allentown Health Bureau is canceling second COVID-19 vaccinations scheduled for Tuesday through Friday of this week at the Allentown Fairgrounds Agri-Plex. Those scheduled for the second Moderna vaccination today and tomorrow will get them at the same time and place on Thursday, March 4th. Those scheduled for that second Moderna vaccine on Thursday and Friday will get them at the same time and palce on Wednesday, March 3rd. Perhaps up to 60,000 second-dose vaccinations may be pushed back across the state due to the second-dose vaccine given out as the first-dose in error.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health Monday confirmed a two-day total of 3427 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 915,018. 44 new coronavirus-related deaths were also reported over that two-day period, leaving the state with 23,614 since the pandemic's beginning. Right now, there are 1959 people hospitalized due to the coronavirus. 421 of whom are in the intensive care unit. The statewide percent positivity rate for the seven days ending February 18th stood at 6.5-percent.
The Bethlehem and Easton area school districts are planning to have students return to in-person classes for at least four days a week. Both districts are currently using a hybrid learning model with in-person instruction twice a week.
Effective March 1st, sports and entertainment venues in New Jersey, with a fixed-seating capacity of more than 5000 people can open for limited spectators. There will be a ten-percent capacity limit for indoor venues and a 15-percent cap for outdoor venues. Effective immediately, indoor and outdoor collegiate sports practices and competitions can allow two parents or guardians per athlete as spectators, as long as the crowd does not exceed 35-percent of the indoor room's capacity.
Lafayette College says there was an armed robbery just before 4 o'clock Monday morning in a college-owned home in the 400 block of McCartney Street. The robber, who reportedly had a knife, took a cellphone and left. The victim suffered minor scratches.
Fire has damaged a home in Catasauqua. Crews were called to the 300 block of Howertown Road just before 9:30 Monday night. Authorities have not said what may have started the fire. There are no injuries reported.
Gov. Tom Wolf has unveiled his plan to get Pennsylvania workers back to work. "Back to Work PA will assist the workers and business owners that have been most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, using an extraction tax on the natural gas industry to fund a $3 billion investment in Pennsylvania's economic future," Wolf says. The governor says that money would be spent on, among other things, programs to improve digital literacy skills, enhance education and training supporting middle-skill jobs and skilled trades.
An investigation is underway on a bomb threat that evacuated the Pennsylvania State Police headquarters in Harrisburg Monday. State Police and Capitol Police both searched the building for a few hours, but no explosive devices were found.
A teenager is being charged with stabbing her sister to death in Lancaster County. It happened Monday morning at a home in Manheim Township. 14-year-old Claire Miller called 911 and said she had stabbed her 19-year-old sister. Helen Miller, who was confined to a wheelchair, was found with a large knife in her neck and was later pronounced dead at the scene. Claire Miller is being charged as an adult.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has signed legislation that makes marijuana use legal for everyone 21 years of age and older. He says it ends the state's broken and indefensible marijuana policies. "These policies permanently stained the records of many residents and short-circuited their future and disproportionately hurt communities of color and failed the meaning of justice at every level, social or otherwise," Murphy says. Garden State voters overwhelmingly approved making marijuana legal for adults last November.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is set to lay out New Jersey's budget for next year. Murphy says the 2022 budget is focused on getting the Garden State through this pandemic and supercharging the state's reemergence. The governor makes his address, virtually, this afternoon at 1 o'clock.
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and the Division of Consumer Affairs have secured a more than $1.5 million ruling in a Medicaid scheme. Prosecutors obtained a default judgment that found Nissim Aryeh, the owner of Advanta Medicaid LLC, is personally liable for 131 violations of the state's consumer protections laws. Aryeh allegedly took money from elderly individuals seeking help to obtain Medicaid coverage for their long-term care without actually doing the work.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is going to be quarantining after he tested positive for COVID-19. Tomlin says he's experiencing minimal symptoms of the virus, but is still in good health.