State case totals surpass 20,000, nursing home reports 7 deaths
As Pennsylvania prepares for a coronavirus surge that could come next week, we are still a long way from returning to life as usual, Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania health secretary, said Saturday.
Once the number of cases declines over an extended period, the state will look at gradually lifting restrictions in specific areas, she said Saturday, during her daily news briefing. But restrictions could return if the numbers start to rise.
“It’s not going to be one grand opening,” Levine said. “It’s going to go in a progressive fashion.”
Levine said that while Pennsylvania has been able to “bend the curve,” there is still a significant number of cases, which is why businesses will remain closed until further notice and schools will be shut down for the remainder of the academic year.
“Now is the time for people to stay home and for those nonlife-sustaining businesses to be closed,” she said.
Pennsylvania’s coronavirus case count reached 21,655 on
Saturday, with 1,676 new cases. There were 78 additional deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total to 494, Levine said. While the state recorded no new deaths in Lehigh County between Friday and Saturday, the Lehigh County coroner’s office said four more people had died, for a total of 20.
It’s not clear if the state’s death total included seven residents at Genesis Healthcare Lehigh Center in Lower Macungie Township who have died, according to the company, four additional deaths since The Morning Call reported on the situation there Tuesday.
The coronavirus has sicked 77 Genesis residents and employees, the company said. The coroner’s report shows a total of eight deaths in Lower Macungie Township since the pandemic hit Pennsylvania.
In the Lehigh Valley, only Allentown has more deaths, with nine, according to the city.
Levine said Saturday that about 1,400 nursing home residents have been infected in the state. In addition, about 1,000 state health care workers have tested positive for the virus.
Of the 2,189 people hospitalized with coronavirus in Pennsylvania, 617, or about 28%, are on ventilators, she said. Pennsylvania is not in a situation like New York, where hospitals have been overwhelmed with coronavirus cases. Levine said nearly half the state’s hospital beds, 38% of its intensive care unit beds and 70% of its ventilators are still available.
In the Lehigh Valley, 103 new cases were recorded. In Lehigh County, cases increased by 58, to 1,620. And in Northampton County, they rose by 45, to 1,039, which included 23 deaths, up from 21 on Friday.
Asked about Lehigh Valley Health Network’s announcement Friday that a shortage of tests has forced the network to restrict who may take one, Levine said there have been periodic shortages in tests or chemicals used in testing. She said the state would reach out to LVHN to get the network more tests.
LVHN is restricting testing to people with coronavirus symptoms who are at least 65 years old or have health conditions that put them at higher risk of serious complications from COVID-19.
Levine acknowledged that over the holiday weekend, as Christians celebrate Easter and Jews celebrate Passover, people are being asked to break with tradition and not gather with family. Though families won’t be able to get together, Levine said people statewide can come together to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
“It gives me hope that we will come out of this renewed as a commonwealth and as a nation,” she said.
Levine stressed that Pennsylvanians should continue to practice social distancing. She acknowledged that can be difficult in heavily populated areas, and people may need to cross the street to avoid others if out taking a walk.
“The best way to practice social distancing is to please stay home,” she said.
Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday that the coronavirus case count could reach a critical point soon, with the state gearing up for a possible surge next week.
“There are cases where just one person has infected dozens of others. So don’t be Patient Zero. Stay home unless you absolutely must leave,” he said.
Lehigh Valley Health Network is preparing for that surge by working with Lehigh Valley Phantoms owners Jim and Rob Brooks, who have offered Allentown’s PPL Center if necessary for an overflow of patients.
Since it was first diagnosed in China in December, the novel coronavirus has infected more than 1.7 million people worldwide, killing more than 100,000, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center. The vast majority of people who contract COVID-19 recover. While Pennsylvania and other states don’t track those numbers, Johns Hopkins has counted at least 354,000 recoveries.
Morning Call reporter Jacqueline Palochko can be reached at 610-820-6613 or at jpalochko@ mcall.com. Reporters Andrew Wagaman and Jon Harris contributed to this story.