Fayette County COVID-19 cases increase by 6
An additional 1,706 positive cases of the coronavirus and 48 deaths were reported overnight in Pennsylvania, bringing the state’s case total to 29,441 and the death toll to 756 on Friday.
Fayette County saw an increase of six cases, bringing the total number to 66. Two additional cases were reported in Washington County for a total of 75 cases, and Westmoreland County’s cases rose by nine to 249. Greene County remained at 24 cases. Allegheny County’s case number grew from 925 to 947, according to the state Department of Health.
No overnight deaths were reported in Fayette, Greene, Washington or Westmoreland counties. An additional five deaths were reported in Allegheny County, bringing the death toll to 43.
The data show 2.6% of reported COVID-19 cases are fatal, and 9% of confirmed cases require hospitalization. Twenty-six percent of hospitalized patients require a ventilator, Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said at Friday’s press conference.
She said she believes the increase in new cases between Thursday and Friday is due in part to delays over the holiday weekend and in increase in recently returned results from private labs.
Gov. Tom Wolf, on Friday, outlined standards for phased reopening in Pennsylvania.
“We can’t be impulsive. We can’t be emotional. We need to follow the science,” he said, listing six standards for reopening:
n A data-driven approach to drive regional reopenings
n Guidance for employers, individuals and health care facilities to ensure accountability
n The availability of adequate personal protective equipment and testing
n Establishing a monitoring and surveillance program to let state officials quickly implement containment or mitigation plans if cases again surge
n Protections for vulnerable populations like visitor limitations to congregant care facilities or prisons
n Limitations on large nonwork-related gatherings throughout the reopening process
Wolf acknowledged the sacrifices made, from nonessential business closures to the order requiring people to stay at home unless it was necessary to go out.
“No amount of imagination could have foreseen what I … have asked of you in the last month,” he said.
Even through the difficulties of what’s been asked, Wolf said, “our ability to prevail remains tenuous.”
Case numbers continue to rise, and Pennsylvania has the fifth highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country.
He said he believes the standards to reopen the state “respects the reality of the situation on the ground and works with our local, regional and federal partners,” and said he would outline more specific steps next week.
Wolf also spoke of a need to increase wages for all Pennsylvanians, expand paid sick or family leave policies and expand broadband access.
“We need to think beyond this crisis so that we build an economy that’s stronger and more resilient.”
Levine said Pennsylvanians are flattening the curve, but COVID-19 remains a threat and the public must remain vigilant.
“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,” she 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.”
She said it is too soon to tell whether the state has reached its surge, which some models predicted would happen this week. Plans are in place to increase testing, and the state has received shipments of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers from the federal government. Hospitals in the hardest hit areas – in the eastern part of the state – are still able to keep up with demand for beds, life-saving equipment and protective equipment.
“We’ve seen some challenges in the southeast and the northeast, but nothing we can’t handle,” Levine said. “We are keeping up.”
She also addressed guidance earlier this week to businesses, asking them to require customers wear masks.
“For businesses like grocery stores or pharmacies, etc., what we’re asking is that if someone comes in without a mask, then to ask them to kindly go home and get a mask,” she said. “But we’re not asking state police to enforce this.”
For more information on COVID-19, including county-specific data, visit health.pa.gov.