Pennsylvania added 885 new cases of the coronavirus to its totals and 47 new deaths, numbers significantly down from previous days.
According to information released on Pa. Department of Health’s website, there are currently 42,050 confirmed cases, a increase of 885 cases in 24 hours.
Dauphin County reported 10 new positive cases on Tuesday, while three new positive tests were added in Schuylkill County, bringing Dauphin’s total to 529 cases with 21 deaths, Schuylkill up to 324 cases with five deaths, and Northumberland County remaining at 90 confirmed cases.
In comparison, Philadelphia County, the hot spot of the state, has their totals at 11,361 positive cases and 274 deaths.
Locally, Pine Grove is still the area’s hot spot with 13 positive cases while Elizabethville has eight cases listed and Millersburg and Tremont have five cases each, according to the Pa. Department of Health’s zip code data chart. The rest of the zip codes have redacted numbers with cases ranging from 1 to 4, with the exception of Pitman, Halifax, Wiconisco and Gratz, which is reporting no cases in their areas.
While optimistic in these new numbers, officials say that the public’s effort on social distancing and wearing masks must continue to get things back to normal as the state looms on a May 8 date to possibly begin repopening parts of the state through the Governor’s three-tiered plan.
“As we start to see the number of new COVID-19 cases continually change across the state that does not mean we can stop practicing social distancing,” Levine said. “We must continue to stay home to protect ourselves, our families and our community. If you must go out, please make as few trips as possible and wear a mask to protect not only yourself, but others. We need all Pennsylvanians to continue to heed these efforts to protect our vulnerable Pennsylvanians, our health care workers and frontline responders.”
As far as negative tests for each county, Dauphin is listed as having 3,158 negative tests while Schuylkill reported 1,825 negative tests and 473 in Northumberland County.
In nursing home and long-term care facilities, Dauphin County is listed in the table having three facilities, 79 cases among residents (down four from yesterday), 13 cases among employees and 12 deaths. Schuylkill County has two positive cases in two nursing homes, one resident and one employee, and Northumberland County has one resident and one employee at one facility All total, 441 facilities are reporting 7,037 cases among residents and 862 among employees, and have accounted for 990 of Pennsylvania’s 1,597 deaths attributed to the coronavirus.
The state also updated numbers of age ranges of the positive cases and hospitalizations to date. Currently 2,793 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, 28%, 65+, 26%
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-122 (1), Allegheny-1,224 (79), Armstrong-47 (2), Beaver-387 (46), Bedford-21 (1), Berks-2,526 (89), Blair-21, Bradford-28 (2), Bucks-2,585 (148), Butler-170 (6), Cambria-21 (1), Cameron-1 Carbon-164 (12), Centre-87 (1), Chester-1,214 (81), Clarion-22 (1), Clearfield-11, Clinton-25, Columbia-277 (7), Crawford-19, Cumberland-282 (9), Dauphin-529 (21), Delaware-3,361 (142), Elk-3, Erie-81, Fayette-79 (4), Forest-7, Franklin-227 (2), Fulton-3, Greene-25, Huntingdon-24, Indiana-63 (4), Jefferson-4, Juniata-79, Lackawanna-833 (63), Lancaster-1,633 (75), Lawrence-63 (5), Lebanon-621 (7), Lehigh-2,636 (56), Luzerne-2,035 (71), Lycoming-57, McKean-5, Mercer-65 (1), Mifflin-30, Monroe-1,083 (46), Montgomery-3,817 (232), Montour-48, Northampton-1,834 (49), Northumberland-90, Perry-26 (1), Philadelphia-11,361 (274), Pike-352 (12), Potter-4, Schuylkill-324 (5), Snyder-33 (1), Somerset-25, Sullivan-1, Susquehanna-81 (4), Tioga-14 (1), Union-31, Venango-7, Warren-1 (0), Washington-107 (2), Wayne-93 (3), Westmoreland-377 (19), Wyoming-18 (2), York-606 (9).
As of noon April 23, there have been 161,372 negative tests for the coronavirus, an increase of 3,944 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 April 25, the U.S. Center for Disease Control reports there have been 928,619 cases of the Coronavirus reported in the U.S. with 52,459 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 need to go out and will be around other people, 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.