Pennsylvania launches new virus exposure notification app

By The Associated Press
September 22, 2020 | 9:26 AM

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s new coronavirus exposure-notification app is now available on app stores.

The release of the app Tuesday is part of Pennsylvania’s effort to more quickly break chains of transmission by using the new technology to notify people who may have been exposed.

The app is based on smartphone technology developed by Apple and Google. The app is interoperable with the state of Delaware’s app, which released last week.

Use will be limited to people 18 and over.

It is designed to automatically notify people if they might have been exposed to the coronavirus, and state officials say the app does not store personal information.

Between prices and a diarrhea-causing parasite, lettuce is causing hard times at some restaurants

By The Associated Press
July 30, 2026 | 1:13 AM

It’s been a choppy year for restaurants that lean into lettuce. Lettuce prices rose sharply in the first half of 2026 due to hot weather in Arizona, where about one-third of America’s lettuce is grown. Now, restaurants are dealing with the fallout from a cyclospora outbreak linked to shredded lettuce that has sickened thousands of Americans. Taco Bell will likely see the biggest sales impact from the outbreak, which began in late June. Federal health officials first tied the outbreak to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. Later, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said customers in Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania were also affected. Taco Bell said on July 17 that it had voluntarily removed shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms from its U.S. restaurants. But its customer volume has suffered. As of July 23, Taco Bell visits were 21% lower than average across the U.S., according to Placer.ai, a market research company.

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