While still rising in amounts, Monday’s information on new coronavirus cases and deaths were encouraging.
According to information released on Pa. Department of Health’s website April 13, there are currently 24,199 confirmed cases, a increase of 1,366 cases in 24 hours.
Dauphin County reported 11 new positive cases on Friday while four were added in Schuylkill County and three more in Northumberland County, bringing Dauphin’s total to 240 cases with four deaths and Schuylkill up to 192 cases with two deaths and Northumberland County at 40 confirmed cases.
Philadelphia County, the hot spot of the state, reported 458 new cases, bringing their total to 6,810 in the county since the outbreak began.
Pennsylvania added 17 more fatalities to the disease’s death toll of 524 residents. Bucks and Luzerne led the counties, reporting four deaths each.
While the numbers are down, Pennsylvania must continue to stay diligent against the coronavirus in order to “flatten the curve.”
“COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise in Pennsylvania, and even though the daily increases are not exponential, now is not the time to become complacent,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. “We must continue to stay home to protect ourselves, our families, our community. If you must go out, please make as few trips as possible and wear a mask to protect not only yourself, but other people as well. We need all Pennsylvanians to continue to heed these efforts to protect our vulnerable Pennsylvanians, our health care workers and frontline responders.”
With commercial labs being the primary testing option for most Pennsylvanians, data is not available on the total number of tests pending.
The state also updated numbers of age ranges of the positive cases and hospitalizations to date. Currently 2,205 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, 41%; 50-64, 29%, 65+, 21%
Hospitalizations
Ages 0-4, <1%; 5-12, <1%; 13-18, <1%; 19-24, 1%; 25-49, 19%; 50-64, 29%; 65+, 51%
The counties affected and the number of confirmed cases, with the number of deaths in parentheses, are:
Adams-56 (1), Allegheny-876 (21), Armstrong-28, Beaver-153 (13), Bedford-5 (1), Berks-1150 (21), Blair-11, Bradford-19, Bucks-1,177 (36), Butler-143 (4), Cambria-14 (1), Cameron-1 Carbon-102 (3), Centre-70, Chester-593 (17), Clarion-16, Clearfield-9, Clinton-8, Columbia-113 (3), Crawford-16, Cumberland-122 (3), Dauphin-240 (4), Delaware-1,712 (40), Elk-2, Erie-39, Fayette-57 (3), Forest-5, Franklin-66, Fulton-1, Greene-23, Huntingdon-11, Indiana-43, Jefferson-2, Juniata-39, Lackawanna-459 (21), Lancaster-828 (24), Lawrence-51 (4), Lebanon-284 (2), Lehigh-1,747 (19), Luzerne-1,446 (21), Lycoming-28, McKean-3, Mercer-43, Mifflin-17, Monroe-816 (24), Montgomery-2,285 (65), Montour-39, Northampton-1,130 (23), Northumberland-40, Perry-17 (1), Philadelphia-6,810 (127), Pike-221 (6), Potter-4, Schuylkill-192 (2), Snyder-23 (1), Somerset-13, Sullivan-1, Susquehanna-31 (1), Tioga-14 (1), Union-21, Venango-6, Warren-1, Washington-69, Wayne-67 (1), Westmoreland-228 (6), Wyoming-12, York-331 (3).
As of noon April 13, there have been 105,593 negative tests for the coronavirus, an increase of 3,536 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,, 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 12, the U.S. Center for Disease Control reports there have been 525,704 cases of the Coronavirus reported in the U.S. with 20,486 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.