Pennsylvania COVID-19 cases grow beyond 30
Thirty-three Pennsylvanians have tested positive for COVID-19, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announced Friday afternoon in a briefing from Harrisburg.
The total included five new cases since the state Department of Health’s morning update. It also included the first pediatric case.
Levine said that case was in Monroe County, but she said no other information was available.
All of the cases are in the eastern part of the state.
Six of the state’s 33 cases have been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Levine noted that 32 of the 33 people who tested positive were exposed to “known risk factors.” One case is under investigation, she said in response to questions, and is “under consideration for community spread.”
Community spread refers to cases in which there are no identifiable causes behind the spread of a contagious disease.
Levine provided some guidelines regarding when a person should seek testing – guidelines that apply at least for right now.
“It is important for everyone to remember that this is a very rapidly changing situation,” she said.
She said that people without symptoms or with mild symptoms do not need testing at this time, but she said people with a temperature of more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit, shortness of breath, and a cough – key symptoms of the illness – should call a health care provider in advance and then proceed with a visit.
Levine stressed that commercial laboratories are able to test without approval from the Department of Health, though the Department will receive results. She also continued to stress the need to follow preventive measures of thorough hand-washing, using elbows to cover sneezes, not touching the face, cleaning surfaces frequently and staying home when sick.
Levine also noted, in response to questions, that testing remains symptom-based, but she said the state has “relaxed the criteria” of the CDC to allow more people to be tested. The state does not have the resources, she said, to conduct testing of everyone within a given location – such as the southeastern part of the state, where many of the cases have surfaced.
“We would not have the capacity to do population-based testing,” she said.
Levine again stressed the need for calm and assured people that effective networks, within the state, are in place.