WHYY
By
Yaasmeen Piper, Spotlight PAJanuary 6, 2021
A health care worker holds a sample from a coronavirus test in a sealed plastic bag. (Jose F. Moreno/Philadelphia Inquirer)
This story originally appeared on Spotlight PA.
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters.
Pennsylvania has greatly increased the amount of daily coronavirus testing it conducts since the pandemic began this spring, but still falls short of many states and lags far behind what some experts say is needed to actually suppress the spread.
EXPLAINER: Why the smallest state has a big virus challenge
By Staff | Jan 6, 2021
FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2020, file photo, a health care worker carries a COVID-19 specimen from a motorist at a drive-thru testing site outside McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, R.I. For a few days in December, the nation s smallest state of Rhode Island was one of the worst places on the planet when it came to new cases of COVID-19 per capita. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) For a few days in December, Rhode Island was one of the worst places on the planet when it came to new cases of COVID-19 per capita.
Students in the Madison Metropolitan School District have been learning mostly from home since March, when schools closed as the COVID-19 pandemic became a reality here.
Hundreds of thousands of their peers around the United States are facing similar circumstances, especially in larger, urban areas. But others â both here and around the world â have returned to classrooms.
A group of Dane County parents has been advocating to change that since late this summer, with recent efforts including marches and demonstrations ahead of school board meetings in Verona and Middleton. An âOpen Dane County Public and Private Schoolsâ Facebook group has more than 1,100 members.
New COVID-19 cases, deaths in U.S. fall to lowest levels in weeks
28 Dec 2020
Dec. 28 (UPI) The United States on Sunday saw significant decreases in COVID-19 cases and deaths marks that were two of the lowest in weeks, according to updated data from Johns Hopkins University.
The data shows 150,100 new coronavirus cases and about 1,200 related deaths nationwide. The case count, apart from Christmas Day, is the lowest since late November and the death toll is just the second this month that’s been 1,200 or lower.
Cases and deaths are typically lower on Sundays and Mondays, due to slower reporting over the weekends.
Free community testing for COVID- 19 continues.
The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following location:
Tuesday, Dec. 29, noon to 2 p.m., The Diamond parking lot, 3001 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd. Drive-thru testing.
Appointments are encouraged by calling the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Testing will be offered while test supplies last.
The Chesterfield County Health Department also is offering free COVID-19 testing at the following locations:
Second Baptist Church, 5100 W. Hundred Road, Chester, 1 to 3 p.m. Monday, Dec. 28.
Walmsley Boulevard United Methodist Church, 2950 Walmsley Blvd., 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Dec. 29; and 10 a.m. to noon, Thursday, Dec. 31.