Breaking News

COVID-19: The Latest

Vaccine push as much about rivalries as science

WASHINGTON (AP) — No, Russia isn’t having a Sputnik moment. The announcement Tuesday by Russian President Vladimir Putin that his country was the first to approve a coronavirus vaccine did not provoke the awe and wonder of the Soviet Union’s launch of the first satellite into orbit in 1957. Instead, it was met by doubts about the science and safety. But the claim underscored how, like the space race, the competition to have the first vaccine is about international rivalries as well as science. The first nation to develop a way to defeat the novel coronavirus will achieve a kind ...

Justice re-closes nursing homes after spike in COVID deaths

CHARLESTON - After seeing a spike in deaths tied to outbreaks in nursing homes across the state, Gov. Jim Justice said visitations to nursing homes would need to stop once again. Speaking Wednesday during his coronavirus briefing from the State Capitol Building, Justice said that visitations ...

Worldwide virus cases double in span of 6 weeks; now 20M

It took six months for the world to reach 10 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus. It took just over six weeks for that number to double. The worldwide count of known COVID-19 infections climbed past 20 million on Monday, with more than half of them from just three countries: the U.S., India and Brazil, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. The average number of new cases per day in the U.S. has declined in recent weeks but is still running high at over 54,000, versus almost 59,000 in India and nearly 44,000 in Brazil. In other developments Tuesday, Russia ...

First week of classes to be virtual at West Liberty University

WEST LIBERTY — Classes for the first week of the fall semester at West Liberty University will be held virtually, according to university officials. The announcement was made Tuesday afternoon, with officials explaining the decision was made as a result of ongoing COVID-19 testing of students and employees. Testing is being performed by the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department Aug. 14-17. In-person classes will begin Aug. 22 at the Highlands, and Aug. 24 on the university’s main campus. For questions pertaining to classes, students are to contact their class ...

Update: Big Ten, Pac-12 pull plug on fall football amid pandemic

The Big Ten and Pac-12 won't play football this fall because of concerns about COVID-19, taking two of college football's five power conferences out of a crumbling season amid the pandemic. About an hour after the Big Ten's announcement, the Pac-12 called a news conference to say its season ...