Another sign that the curve is flattening in Pennsylvania as the state had its lowest totals of new cases and deaths in recently memory.
Pennsylvania added 825 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday. According to information released on Pa. Department of Health’s website, there are currently 50,092 confirmed cases, and 2,458 deaths, up 14 from the previous day.
Dauphin County reported 18 new positive cases and four new deaths on Friday, while three new positive tests were added in Schuylkill County and one in Northumberland County, bringing Dauphin’s total to 652 cases with 28 deaths, Schuylkill up to 398 cases with seven deaths, and Northumberland County at 100 confirmed cases.
In comparison, Philadelphia County, the hot spot of the state, added 137 cases in 24 hours and one death, putting their totals at 13,316 positive cases and 424 deaths.
Officials say that the public’s effort on social distancing and wearing masks must continue to get things back to normal.
“As we prepare to move a number of counties from red to yellow, we need all Pennsylvanians to continue to follow the social distancing and mitigation efforts in place,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. “We must continue to protect our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians, which includes our seniors, those with underlying health issues, our healthcare workers and our first responders. I am proud of the work that Pennsylvanians have done so far, but we cannot stop now, we must continue to take the necessary steps to protect ourselves from COVID-19.”
As far as negative tests for each county, Dauphin is listed as having 3,997 negative tests while Schuylkill reported 2,235 negative tests and 653 in Northumberland County.
In nursing home and long-term care facilities, the numbers of the local counties went up slightly as Dauphin County added five residents and an employee, and Schuylkill County added another resident. Dauphin County is listed in the table having three facilities affected, with 110 cases among residents, 26 cases among employees and 21 deaths. Schuylkill County has 27 residents and six employees affected in six facilities, and Northumberland County has six residents and two employees at one facility All total, 494 facilities are reporting 9,345 cases among residents and 1,224 among employees, and have accounted for 1,646 of Pennsylvania’s 2,458 deaths attributed to the coronavirus.
The state also updated numbers of age ranges of the positive cases and hospitalizations to date. Currently 2,691 Pennsylvania residents are hospitalized with the virus and its complications.
The breakdown is as follows:
Positive cases
Ages 0-4, <1%; 5-12, <1%; 13-18, 1%; 19-24, 6%; 25-49, 38%; 50-64, 27%, 65+, 27%
Hospitalizations
Ages 0-29, 2%; 30-49, 5%; 50-64, 10%; 65-79, 19%; 80+, 19%
The counties affected and the number of confirmed cases, with the number of deaths in parentheses, are:
Adams-148 (4), Allegheny-1,365 (102), Armstrong-52 (2), Beaver-458 (68), Bedford-24 (1), Berks-2,948 (111), Blair-22, Bradford-35 (2), Bucks-3,356 (240), Butler-180 (6), Cambria-34 (1), Cameron-1 Carbon-185 (15), Centre-105 (1), Chester-1,560 (118), Clarion-23 (1), Clearfield-21, Clinton-33, Columbia-296 (13), Crawford-19, Cumberland-375 (18), Dauphin-652 (28), Delaware-4,198 (258), Elk-4, Erie-91 (2), Fayette-83 (4), Forest-7, Franklin-377 (8), Fulton-6, Greene-27 (1), Huntingdon-57, Indiana-70 (4), Jefferson-6, Juniata-86 (1), Lackawanna-1,017 (87), Lancaster-1,991 (113), Lawrence-65 (6), Lebanon-756 (10), Lehigh-2,963 (83), Luzerne-2,255 (101), Lycoming-86 (3), McKean-6, Mercer-66 (1), Mifflin-39, Monroe-1,173 (55), Montgomery-4,645 (382), Montour-50, Northampton-2,240 (94), Northumberland-100, Perry-34 (1), Philadelphia-13,316 (424), Pike-408 (17), Potter-4, Schuylkill-398 (7), Snyder-33 (1), Somerset-30 (1), Sullivan-1, Susquehanna-86 (9), Tioga-16 (1), Union-38, Venango-7, Warren-1, Washington-120 (2), Wayne-109 (5), Westmoreland-403 (26), Wyoming-27 (2), York-702 (11).
As of noon May 4, there have been 195,498 negative tests for the coronavirus, an increase of 4,126 over the day before.
What is coronavirus?
According to the Pa. Department of Health, coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common throughout the world. These viruses can live in animals and at times, evolve and infect people before spreading through human to human contact.
Human coronaviruses are spread just like the common cold or the flu — either through the air through coughing or sneezing, through close personal contact like touching or shaking hands, or by touching an object or surface with the virus on it.
Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The symptoms can appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after a person is exposed to the illness. Reported illnesses have ranged from people with little to no symptoms to severe illness and death. As of May 3, the U.S. Center for Disease Control reports there have been 1,122,486 cases of the Coronavirus reported in the U.S. with 65,735 deaths.
What can you do?
Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
Cover any coughs or sneezes with your elbow, not your hands.
Clean surfaces frequently.
Stay home to avoid spreading COVID-19, especially if you are unwell.
If you must go out for a life-sustaining reason, please wear a mask.
The Pa. Department of Health offers these guidelines as the COVID-19 crisis continues.
Stay home as much as possible. Try to get groceries once per week instead of daily. Freedom of travel remains, but please refrain from non-essential travel. Essential travel includes things like commuting to an essential job, picking up supplies like groceries and medicine, and checking on family and pets in other households. Do not host or attend gatherings.