Coronavirus Latest: COVID-19 Spreading Rapidly In Philly As Cases Rise To 44; South Philly Testing Site Hoping To Open Friday
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia's health commissioner is warning the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the city as 10 new cases were announced Thursday. There are now a total of 44 COVID-19 cases in Philadelphia.
"This is about to get real. We expect many people in Philadelphia will get this infection," Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said.
Eight patients are hospitalized and of the 44 coronavirus cases, 22 of them are health care workers. Farley says not all of them were exposed at work.
Farley says he hopes to have the testing site in at the South Philadelphia sports complex open on Friday afternoon.
"We hope to have that testing site open tomorrow afternoon, hope to have it tomorrow afternoon, I cannot guarantee yet," Farley said.
There's no confirmed time as of yet. The sports complex site was likely selected because of its easy access to the area's expressways, plus close proximity to SEPTA's Broad Street Line.
There are currently 14 testing sites in the city, and Farley is expecting 19 sites to be open by next week. However, the sites are dealing with a shortage of testing kits.
SEPTA officials were also at today's press conference, where they revealed plans to reduce transit service to operate on a Saturday schedule, seven days a week, beginning on Sunday. They're doing this in response to a steep decline in ridership caused by business and school closings, which has resulted in a drop of over 60% from regular ridership totals.
"We want to have service available for those who absolutely need it, but we also want to stress that if you do not have to travel, please stay home," said Scott Sauer, SEPTA's assistant general manager for operations. "Leave these services for essential workers and those who need to use essential services."
Transit schedules will be similar to what SEPTA runs on a typical Saturday, and also consistent with changes that were put into place earlier this week on regional rail.
There are currently 196 cases of the virus in Pennsylvania. One person has died in the state.
CBS3's Alecia Reid contributed to this report.
