Another day of less than 1,000 new cases of the coronavirus in Pennsylvania as counties await the next reopening announcement from Gov. Tom Wolf.
Wolf was expected to announce new counties that would be moved to the yellow as Schuylkill and Dauphin, along with several other counties backed off of plan to reopen ahead of the expiration of their June 4. stay-at-home order.
Pennsylvania added 938 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday. According to information released on Pa. Department of Health’s website, the state has reached the 60,000-case level as there are currently 60,622 confirmed cases and is one of the top 10 states with the highest counts in the country
The death toll was increased by 124 souls on Friday, but the Department of Health said 89 of those cases are over the past several weeks while 35 were over the last few days.
Dauphin County added 17 cases and a death to its total on Fridayday, while Schuylkill County added 16 cases and a death, while Northumberland County added four cases. Dauphin County currently stands at a total to 912 cases with 41 deaths, Schuylkill stands at 506 cases with 15 deaths, and Northumberland County, in the yellow phase of reopening, is at 136 confirmed cases.
In comparison, Philadelphia County, the hot spot of the state, added 211 cases and four deaths, putting their totals at 15,835 positive cases and 1,004 deaths since the coronavirus first hit in March..
In nursing home and long-term care facilities, Dauphin County is listed in the table having three facilities affected, with 229 cases among residents, 49 cases among employees and 26 deaths. Schuylkill County has 66 residents, 19 employees affected and two deaths in 10 facilities, while Northumberland County has one patient in one facility
All total, 550 facilities are reporting 12,937 cases among residents and 2,039 among employees, and have accounted for 2,991 of Pennsylvania’s 4,342 deaths attributed to the coronavirus.
Officials say that the public’s effort on social distancing and wearing masks must continue to get things back to normal.
“As counties move 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 6,987 negative tests while Schuylkill reported 3,022 negative tests and 983 in Northumberland County.
The state also updated numbers of age ranges of the positive cases and hospitalizations to date. Currently 1,959 Pennsylvania residents are hospitalized with the virus and its complications, down 23 from Tuesday.
The breakdown is as follows:
Positive cases
Ages 0-4, <1%; 5-12, <1%; 13-18, 1%; 19-24, 6%; 25-49, 37%; 50-64, 26%, 65+, 28%
Hospitalizations
Ages 0-29, 2%; 30-49, 5%; 50-64, 10%; 65-79, 20%; 80+, 19%
The counties affected and the number of confirmed cases, with the number of deaths in parentheses, are:
Adams-183 (6), Allegheny-1,582 (141), Armstrong-57 (5), Beaver-516 (83), Bedford-30 (1), Berks-3,593 (207), Blair-32, Bradford-41 (2), Bucks-4,325 (410), Butler-202 (6), Cambria-49 (1), Cameron-2 Carbon-206 (17), Centre-129 (6), Chester-2,060 (218), Clarion-24 (1), Clearfield-33, Clinton-43, Columbia-334 (32), Crawford-21, Cumberland-492 (41), Dauphin-912 (41), Delaware-5,409 (466), Elk-6 (1), Erie-129 (3), Fayette-87 (4), Forest-7, Franklin-580 (17), Fulton-11, Greene-27 (1), Huntingdon-204, Indiana-84 (6), Jefferson-7, Juniata-94 (1), Lackawanna-1,273 (141), Lancaster-2,428 (186), Lawrence-72 (7), Lebanon-863 (19), Lehigh-3,396 (136), Luzerne-2,491 (127), Lycoming-141 (7), McKean-10 (1), Mercer-83 (2), Mifflin-57, Monroe-1,242 (70), Montgomery-5,697 (608), Montour-50 (1), Northampton-2,600 (196), Northumberland-136, Perry-36 (1), Philadelphia-15,835 (1,004), Pike-458 (22), Potter-4, Schuylkill-506 (15), Snyder-33 (2), Somerset-32 (1), Sullivan-2, Susquehanna-82 (14), Tioga-16 (1), Union-44 (1), Venango-7, Warren-2, Washington-129 (4), Wayne-107 (7), Westmoreland-423 (32), Wyoming-28 (3), York-828 (11).
As of noon May 15, there have been 259,210 negative tests for the coronavirus, 7,651 more than 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 14, the U.S. Center for Disease Control reports there have been 1,384,930 cases of the Coronavirus reported in the U.S. with 83,947 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.