It’s happening: Democrats to outnumber GOP in Chester County

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa Well, it finally happened. By Monday, it is very likely that for the first time since before the Civil War, there will be more registered Democrats in Chester County than Republicans. Last week, the gap had closed to less than 65, and Democrats had been picking up a couple of hundred registered voters a week in recent weeks. Obviously, electorally,...

So…how many people are you willing to let die?

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa We’d like it to be over, but it’s not. The news that some 24 Pennsylvania counties will move a more open “yellow” stage next week naturally has folks in Chester County asking when will things open up here? The honest answer: not that soon. June, maybe. The numbers tell the story: new case numbers are not declining, if anything, they’ve been...

Mushroom Festival cancelled for 2020 due to pandemic

KENNETT SQUARE — For the first time in its history, the annual Kennett Square Mushroom Festival — scheduled this year for Sept. 12-13, 2020 — will be canceled, due to increasing safety concerns expressed by its Board of Directors in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The board’s decision to cancel this year’s festival dovetails with the nearly global cancellation of nearly all...

COVID-19 Update, April 2: Cases spike statewide, locally; two deaths reported in Chesco

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times The official map of COVID-19 cases in Chester County as provided by the Chester County Health Department on April 2. Case numbers of COVID-19 spiked sharply both statewide and in Chester County yesterday — with the report of two more deaths in the county on Wednesday. Statewide, the state Department of Health jumped by 1,211 to a total of 7,016 with 16 new deaths,...

Wolf orders shutdown of all ‘non life-sustaining’ businesses

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Gov. Tom Wolf The lockdown to fight COVID-19 is getting teeth this weekend. Gov. Tom Wolf announced Thursday that the state would enforce the closure of all “non-life sustaining” businesses in the Commonwealth, effective, Saturday. “To protect the health and safety of all Pennsylvanians, we need to take more aggressive mitigation actions,” said Gov. Wolf....

Wolf halts dine-in at all Chesco restaurants; two more COVID-19 cases ID’d in county

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Gov. Tom Wolf announced Sunday that all Chester County restaurants must end dine-in business immediately, as county officials revealed two more presumed positive COVID-19 cases in the county. Although all non-essential businesses in the county have been recommended to close for the time being, Wolf issued a mandatory order Sunday, which will remain in effect for...

A common sense guide to prevention of COVID-19 — and a look at the likely impact

By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times Today I sent a communication to my patients, explaining what should be, for most, common sense.  I advised my patients that if they have a cough, a fever, respiratory symptoms or shortness of breath that they should reschedule their dental appointment. Why? All I needed to do was to take a look around, in my small waiting area were two elderly...

Inner Nature: COVID-19 and what you need to know

By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times News of the novel coronavirus outbreak has exposed our vulnerability to two things: fear and contagion. I have had conversations with people, admittedly not science-aware types, who think that countries should be providing antibiotics prophylactically, or frustrated a vaccine is taking so long to make. I have heard people conflating the virus that causes COVID-19,...