Amid spiking cases, Pa. to waive liquor license fees; 9 SEPTA workers have now died from virus

U.S. regulators on Thursday approved the first drug to treat COVID-19: remdesivir, an antiviral medicine given to hospitalized patients through an IV.

The drug, which California-based Gilead Sciences Inc. is calling Veklury, cut the time to recovery by five days — from 15 days to 10 on average — in a large study led by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

It had been authorized for use on an emergency basis since spring, and now becomes the first drug to win full Food and Drug Administration approval for treating COVID-19. President Donald Trump received it when he was sickened earlier this month.

Veklury is approved for people at least 12 years old and weighing at least 88 pounds (40 kilograms) who are hospitalized for a coronavirus infection. For patients younger than 12, the FDA will still allow the drug’s use in certain cases under its previous emergency authorization.

The drug works by inhibiting a substance the virus uses to make copies of itself. Certain kidney and liver tests are required before starting patients on it to ensure it’s safe for them and to monitor for any possible side effects. And the label warns against using it with the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, because that can curb its effectiveness.

“We now have enough knowledge and a growing set of tools to help fight COVID-19,” Gilead’s chief medical officer, Dr. Merdad Parsey, said in a statement.

The drug is either approved or has temporary authorization in about 50 countries, he noted.

Its price has been controversial, given that no studies have found it improves survival. Last week, a large study led by the World Health Organization found the drug did not help hospitalized COVID-19 patients, but that study did not include a placebo group and was less rigorous than previous ones that found a benefit. The FDA’s approval statement noted that, besides the NIH-led one, two other studies found the drug beneficial.

Gilead charges $2,340 for a typical treatment course for people covered by government health programs in the United States and other developed countries, and $3,120 for patients with private insurance. The amount that patients pay out of pocket depends on insurance, income and other factors.

So far, only steroids such as dexamethasone have been shown to cut the risk of dying of COVID-19. The FDA also has given emergency authorization to using the blood of survivors, and two companies are currently seeking similar authorization for experimental antibody drugs.

— Associated Press

— Heather Khalifa

SEPTA has lost its ninth employee to coronavirus-related complications.

SEPTA Transit Police Officer Dwayne Morrison, “was a dedicated member of the department” for almost three decades, General Manager Leslie Richards said in a message sent to employees Monday.

Morrison served in the U.S. Air Force, had been part of a life-saving CPR effort administered to a SEPTA cashier in 2013, and was “the proud father” of a 15-year-old girl, she said in the message.

“My thoughts and prayers are with Dwayne’s daughter, loved ones, [SEPTA Police] Chief Nestel, and all of you,” Richards wrote. “I continue to be here for you as we come together to support each other.”

Earlier this month, Richards told employees Mbassa Bessike, a bus operator for six years, too had died of COVID-19 complications.

The seven additional workers who SEPTA has lost were all veterans of the authority, and served in positions that ranged from mechanic to Regional Rail conductor. They include: Ted Nixon, Phil Williams, Michael Holt, Michael Hill, Yolanda Woodberry, Steve McFadden, and Terrance Burton.

As of Thursday, nearly 400 SEPTA employees have contracted COVID-19, while 365 have returned to their jobs. SEPTA began a COVID-19 memorial fund over the summer to help the families of those employees who died.

» READ MORE: SEPTA launches a COVID-19 memorial fund following employee deaths

— Patricia Madej

Howard Eskin, the longtime Philadelphia sports journalist and broadcast personality, announced Thursday afternoon on Twitter that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be working at the Eagles game.

“I have an exclusive. I will not be doing sideline reports on tonight’s Eagles broadcast because I’ve tested positive for Covid 19,” he tweeted. “I’m doing great, feeling mild symptoms and look forward to getting better so I can rejoin the broadcast.”

He added, “It’s a good time to remind everyone to practice social distancing and really important to wear a mask!”

Eskin covers sports for 94WIP radio and Fox 29 TV.

— Robert Moran

As coronavirus case counts, hospitalization numbers, and positivity rates continue to rise across the commonwealth, should Pennsylvanians expect another stay-at-home order in their future?

“No,” Gov. Tom Wolf said adamantly at a Thursday news conference. Then he paused. “Well, who knows, there’s a chance. We have done everything in Pennsylvania to make sure that doesn’t happen. We are in a very different place than we were back in March.”

The governor noted increased availability of testing, hospitalization numbers that are a third of what they were in the spring, almost 5,000 available ventilators across the state, and the compliance of most Pennsylvanians with mask-wearing, social distancing, and other public health measures.

As a result of a resurgence — which Wolf said had been expected as restrictions loosened and temperatures dropped — Pennsylvanians could, however, see targeted mitigation efforts related to specific environments, such as care homes, correctional facilities, and colleges.

“Those targeted, focused things are much more likely than any broad-based, draconian thing we did back in March,” the governor said.

— Erin McCarthy

In a bit of welcome news for cash-strapped Pennsylvania restaurant and bar owners, Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday announced that he planned to waive 2021 liquor license fees.

The governor, along with the state Liquor Control Board, will eliminate “standard licensing fees” for a year, beginning Jan. 1, for more than 16,000 restaurants, bars, nightclubs, hotels, and other establishments. The total saving is projected at $20 million. The LCB is expected to take up the matter at its next meeting, on Oct. 28.

Details were not immediately released, including a definition of “standard licensing fees.” Most bars and restaurants in Philadelphia, for example, pay $1,430 a year, including fees that vary by county. It also is not clear when restaurants and bars would begin to see relief. Since this move is effective Jan. 1, 2021, it’s important to note that license renewals begin Nov. 1 in Philadelphia County, Dec. 1 in Bucks and Delaware Counties, April 1 in Chester County, and May 1 in Montgomery County.

Wolf said the measure is meant to take some of the economic burden off the “vast majority” of restaurants and bars that have followed coronavirus guidelines and suffered financially as a result.

“The reality is the virus really does well when people come close together as people do at restaurants and bars, but that’s not the fault of the restaurants,” Wolf said at a news conference at a Pittsburgh restaurant.

“The governor could have announced this months ago as a matter of principle,” said Chuck Moran, president of the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association, which had long advocated the move.

Moran said bar owners had paid 100% of their 2020 fees but will not see 100% of potential revenue because of the restrictions. The association also has called for discounts on bars' liquor purchases from the LCB, which holds a monopoly on wine and spirit sales.

The news of the fee waiver takes some of the sting off the state House’s failure to override Wolf’s veto of a bipartisan bill that would have returned bars' indoor capacity to 50% without a self-certification process, allowed people to sit at bars, and eliminated the requirement that customers buy a meal to accompany drinks served indoors.

Wolf acknowledged that “restaurant and bar owners have gone above and beyond during this pandemic to serve their communities as safely as possible, but COVID continues to hurt this industry in a particularly awful way.”

» READ MORE: Indoor dining returns to Philly as restaurant occupancy limits rise statewide

— Erin McCarthy and Michael Klein

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he and his wife, Tammy, will continue to quarantine until they have tested negative several more times following a possible COVID-19 exposure last weekend.

Two senior staff members who work in Murphy’s office tested positive for the virus this week, and Murphy said several others are self-quarantining.

Murphy was exposed to the coronavirus when he and his wife had outdoor drinks at a beer garden in Hoboken with Mike DeLameter, his deputy chief of staff, who later tested positive. Murphy said he and his wife did not have close contact with DeLamater but chose to go “above and beyond” in taking precautions, citing his surgery earlier this year to remove a tumor from his kidney.

“We’re doing it voluntarily, we’re doing it out of an abundance of caution,” said Murphy, who abruptly left a news conference Wednesday after learning of his potential exposure. “I frankly was not happy, but I knew it was the right thing to do.”

Murphy said neither DeLamater or advisor Daniel Bryan, the other staff member who has tested positive, are showing symptoms.

The state’s case numbers continue to rise, and officials added 1,182 cases and 18 more deaths. Hospitalizations are at highest level in months.

“The numbers we’re getting day to day are sobering,” Murphy said, and again urged residents to limit indoor gatherings with friends. “We have to find a way to combat our pandemic fatigue.”

» READ MORE: Coronavirus case numbers keep trending upward; Gov. Phil Murphy in quarantine after staffers infected

— Allison Steele

A former staff member at the Berks County detention center, which confines undocumented migrant families seeking asylum, tested positive for the coronavirus, potentially endangering the 13 parents and children being held there, according to the Shut Down Berks Coalition.

The coalition and other advocates have demanded that Berks and other, similar centers be closed as the only safe way to protect immigrant families during the pandemic. The worker was tested off-site on Oct. 12 after experiencing symptoms, and had last been at the Leesport facility on Oct. 9, the advocacy group said on Thursday.

The coalition again demanded that Gov. Tom Wolf issue an emergency removal order to end family detention in Pennsylvania.

Wolf has called the confinement of families at Berks immoral, inhumane, and wrong but says his administration lacks power to act — the center operates under a contract between the county and the federal government. His administration has rejected demands to evacuate families via a removal order, saying that can be done only upon a finding of immediate and serious danger to life or health.

The 96-bed Berks center is located about 75 miles northwest of Philadelphia, one of three places in the country where the government confines migrant families.

— Jeff Gammage

Philadelphia announced 230 new cases of the coronavirus Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases since March to more than 41,000.

The city also announced eight new probable cases from rapid antigen tests, and one additional death.

There have now been 41,167 confirmed cases of the virus in Philadelphia residents and a total of 1,852 deaths.

— Laura McCrystal

Pennsylvania reported 2,063 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the single highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic as a spike in new infections continues.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health said the large number of new cases was partly due to a faulty data file sent earlier this week, meaning some of the new cases reported Thursday should have been included in the previous day’s numbers.

The Department of Health said 231,483 coronavirus tests were administered between Oct. 15 and Oct. 21, with 10,375 positive cases — a positive test rate of about 4.5%. Overall, 188,360 Pennsylvania residents have tested positive for coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

At least 8,592 Pennsylvania residents have now died after contracting the coronavirus, with 30 new deaths reported on Thursday. Of the state’s deaths, 5,670 have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities.

— Rob Tornoe

If you don’t wear a face mask in Narberth, you could end up being hit with a small fine.

Narberth Borough Council passed a new ordinance on Tuesday that requires all people to wear a mask inside businesses, in borough parks and while walking through the town’s business district.

Failure to wear a mask would result in a verbal warning, followed by a $15 fine, according to the language in the ordinance. Exceptions include people with a medical condition, children 2 years old or younger, and people seated a restaurant to eat.

The ordinance awaits the signature of Mayor Andrea Deutsch.

One point of contention among council members was the idea of people alone in the park being fine by police for not wearing a mask. The issue is expected to be hammered out at a public health and safety meeting Nov. 4, and police are not expected to fine solo maskless parkgoers.

Montgomery County has seen a slight increase in new cases since the beginning of October, but the positivity rate remains just 2.31%, according to the county’s Office of Public Health.

— Rob Tornoe

Aramark is laying off thousands of employees at Citizens Bank Park, the Wells Fargo Center, and other stadiums and arenas across the state due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on live events.

According to filings to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, the Philadephia-based food service company plans to layoff over 2,100 workers in the city, which includes:

Aramark also plans to layoff over 1,200 workers in Pittsburgh, including 626 employees at PPG Paints Arena and 599 employees at PNC Park.

No layoffs were announced for Lincoln Financial Field, which began allowing a small number of fans back into the stands last week. Aramark said it expects many of the layoffs to be “temporary in nature," with the course of the pandemic dictating when arenas and stadiums will reopen fully.

— Rob Tornoe

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who is quarantining after coming in contact with a staffer who tested positive for COVID-19, said he’s tested negative twice and is “feeling great.”

“I’ve got to practice what we preach, and we’ve taken ourselves off the field,” Murphy said during an interview on MSNBC Thursday morning, adding he’ll wait until he tests negative a few more times before interacting with people.

Despite the recent growth in new infections in New Jersey, Murphy thinks the state is in a decent position to weather the fall and winter, when doctors warn of the double impact of COVID-19 and the flu. Murphy said he’ll consider all options, but said he doesn’t envision having to turn to broad shutdowns to slow the rate of infections.

“Capacities — both indoors and outdoors — are something we constantly think about,” Murphy said. “But it looks like most of the challenge of late… is in private homes, beyond your ability to regulate, or more importantly enforce, compliance.”

» READ MORE: Gov. Phil Murphy in quarantine after staffers infected

— Rob Tornoe

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 787,000, a sign that job losses may have eased slightly but are still running at historically high levels.

With confirmed infections having neared 60,000 in the past week, the highest level since July, many consumers have been unable or reluctant to shop, travel, dine out or congregate in crowds — a trend that has led some employers to keep cutting jobs. Several states, such as Ohio and Idaho, are reporting a record number of hospitalizations from the virus.

Thursday’s report from the Labor Department said the number of people who are continuing to receive unemployment benefits tumbled by 1 million to 8.4 million. The decline shows that some of the unemployed are being recalled to their old jobs or are finding new ones. But it also indicates that many jobless Americans have used up their state unemployment aid — which typically expires after six months — and have transitioned to a federal extended benefits program that lasts an additional three months.

» READ MORE: U.S. jobless claims dropped to 787,000 last week, but layoffs remain high

— Associated Press

Pennsylvania continues to experience a spike in COVID-19 infections, reporting more than 1,000 new cases for 16 days in a row, with little signs of slowing down. Hospitalizations are also up 129% compared to this time last month, though they remain well below pandemic highs set in late April.

Both Philadelphia and New Jersey have also experienced an upswing in new cases, while Delaware has managed to keep its new case counts relatively flat this month, following an increase at the end of September.

Here’s where things stand through Thursday, according to an Inquirer analysis of data from each local health department:

— Rob Tornoe

In a new column for the Wall Street Journal, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie opened up about his recent bout with COVID-19, which forced him to spend a week in an intensive care unit.

One big takeaway for Christie? How easily he could have avoided contracting the virus:

Christie didn’t mention President Donald Trump by name, but wrote that those who deny the scientific realities of COVID-19 “undermine conditions that allow for rapid and complete reopening” and that leaders “must trust the American people with the truth.”

— Rob Tornoe