Numbers continue to grow as Pennsylvania continues to deal with the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic entering its fourth week.
According to information released on Pa. Department of Health’s website April 10, there are currently 19,979 confirmed cases, a jump of 1,751 cases in 24 hours.
Dauphin County reported 19 new positive cases on Friday while 15 were added in Schuylkill County and five more in Northumberland County, bringing Dauphin’s total to 199 cases with two deaths and Schuylkill up to 164 cases with one death and Northumberland County at 29 confirmed cases.
Philadelphia County, the hot spot of the state, reported 491 new cases, bringing their total to 5,521 in the county since the outbreak began.
Pennsylvania added 78 more fatalities to the disease’s death toll of 416 residents. Philadelphia County added 24 deaths to the toll, pushing their total to 110 deaths. Montgomery added 13 deaths as the second highest total in 24 hours as Fayette and Lebanon Counties became the 31st and 32nd county to have a resident die from complications caused by the coronavirus.
“Now more than ever, as we continue to see COVID-19 cases and deaths rise in Pennsylvania, we need Pennsylvanians to take action,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. “Those actions should be to stay calm, stay home and stay safe. If you must go out, please limit it to as few trips as possible and wear a mask to protect not only yourself, but other people as well. We need all Pennsylvanians to heed these efforts to protect our vulnerable Pennsylvanians, and also our healthcare workers and front line 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.
The breakdown is as follows:
Positive cases
Ages 0-4, <1%; 5-12, <1%; 13-18, 1%; 19-24, 7%; 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-43, Allegheny-788 (18), Armstrong-22, Beaver-139 (13), Bedford-4, Berks-720 (12), Blair-9, Bradford-16, Bucks-958 (26), Butler-123 (3), Cambria-11 (1), Cameron-1 Carbon-93 (3), Centre-61, Chester-485 (9), Clarion-10, Clearfield-8, Clinton-6, Columbia-81 (2), Crawford-13, Cumberland-96 (2), Dauphin-199 (2), Delaware-1,377 (30), Elk-2, Erie-36, Fayette-49 (1), Forest-5, Franklin-57, Fulton-1, Greene-21, Huntingdon-8, Indiana-26, Jefferson-1, Juniata-30, Lackawanna-346 (18), Lancaster-648 (21), Lawrence-45 (3), Lebanon-218 (1), Lehigh-1,562 (16), Luzerne-1,325 (15), Lycoming-18, McKean-1, Mercer-36, Mifflin-11, Monroe-752 (19), Montgomery-1,889 (50), Montour-29, Northampton-994 (21), Northumberland-29, Perry-16 (1), Philadelphia-5,521 (110), Pike-190 (6), Potter-3, Schuylkill-164 (1), Snyder-12 (1), Somerset-10, Sullivan-1, Susquehanna-22, Tioga-11, Union-12, Venango-5, Warren-1, Washington-66, Wayne-53, Westmoreland-202 (5), Wyoming-6, York-283 (3).
As of noon April 10, there have been 93,040 negative tests for the coronavirus, an increase of 5,666 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 9, the U.S. Center for Disease Control reports there have been 427,460 cases of the Coronavirus reported in the U.S. with 14,696 deaths. Johns Hopkins University of Medicine reports on their Coronavirus Tracker website that 26,522 U.S. residents that have contracted the virus have recovered.
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.