The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported more than 800 new coronavirus cases Thursday, the highest number of new cases in several weeks.
The health department reported 832 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the state total to 88,074. It is the highest number of new cases reported since May 22.
In Pennsylvania, 6,712 deaths have been linked to COVID-19, including 25 new deaths reported on Thursday. More than two-thirds of the state’s coronavirus deaths have occurred in long-term care facilities, including nursing homes.
The state has reported more new cases of coronavirus in the past few days, regularly surpassing 600 new cases in the past week. However, that still remains below the numbers seen in early spring, when new cases regularly exceeded 1,000 per day.
“Our latest data shows that the number of COVID-19 cases is increasing across the state,” Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said in a statement. “The virus is not gone.”
On a positive note, there are fewer people in hospitals because of COVID-19. According to the health department, about 630 people with patients with COVID-19 are being treated in hospitals. That’s less than a quarter of the maximum number in the spring. There are 702,199 people who have turned negative.
Still, the surge in new cases prompted Levine to issue an order Wednesday that expands the requirements for wearing masks when leaving the house, with some limited exceptions. Governor Tom Wolf is urging Pennsylvania residents to wear masks.
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“This order to wear masks is essential to stem the recent increase in COVID-19 cases that we have seen in Pennsylvania,” Wolf said in a statement.
Local restrictions
On Tuesday, Philadelphia officials announced they are postponing plans to resume indoor dining in the city, saying the city is not seeing a drop in new cases. Philly initially planned to allow meals indoors on Friday. The city is also pausing plans to allow the reopening of bars and gyms.
Statewide, Allegheny County officials no longer allow diners to drink alcohol in bars and restaurants due to an increase in COVID-19 cases. Allegheny County reported more than 230 new cases Thursday.
In the past seven days, the health department has reported 4,304 new cases, an increase of 770 new cases in the previous week (an increase of about 22 percent). During the week of June 12-18, the state reported 2,923 new cases.
Going forward, Wolf said at a press conference on Wednesday that he expected local government leaders to push decisions about adding new restrictions to respond to the coronavirus. With increased testing and contact tracing, Wolf said state and local leaders are able to respond more surgically to problem areas before having to employ state-level measures.
Wolf has already moved virtually all of Pennsylvania into the green phase, the least restrictive in his color-coded plan to reopen the state.
On Friday, Lebanon County, the only county in Pennsylvania that is still in the yellow phase, can go into the green phase.
In the green phase, schools can reopen and restaurants can offer meals indoors. Casinos, theaters and other indoor entertainment venues may reopen, albeit with some restrictions.
Nursing homes
Across the state, according to the health department, 4,590 deaths from coronavirus have occurred in nursing homes or personal care homes. Those deaths represent about 68 percent of the state’s COVID-19 deaths.
The department said 17,856 long-term care facility residents have been infected, along with 3,316 employees. In total, 21,172 people in these facilities have contracted COVID-19.
Cases have been found at 702 facilities in 53 counties.
Statewide, 6,706 healthcare workers have been infected.
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