Coronavirus Pennsylvania: Philly Health Officials Say COVID-19 Cases Could Be Near Or At Peak In City; Statewide Total Nears 25,000
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Health officials say the Philadelphia region could be near or at the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak. They say the numbers are not increasing as quickly as they had been.
State and local officials say things are better but we're not out of danger, adding that the stay-at-home orders appear to be paying off, but it's no time to ease up.
The total number of cases has topped 6,800 in Philadelphia as the statewide total approached 25,000. Officials say 524 people have died from the virus, including 190 in Philadelphia.
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The streets of Philadelphia have been empty for a couple of weeks now and officials say that's helping to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Even though Philadelphia is reporting almost 1,400 new cases, the numbers are stabilizing.
"The overall trend is the same or perhaps a little bit down, which is a sign of hope," Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said. "So for all of you staying at home and following stay-at-home orders, give yourselves some credit for protecting yourselves and each other."
However, the outbreak is far from over. Cases and deaths continue to increase across the state, just not as fast. The stay-at-home order is being credited.
"This has been a very difficult and hard sacrifice for Pennsylvanians, but the sacrifice is working out," Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said. "Our case-count numbers continue to grow, but we aren't seeing the doubling of cases."
The encouraging news has many wondering, how soon we might get our lives back?
On Monday's governors call, Gov. Tom Wolf stressed the importance of a coordinated effort to reopen businesses and said, right now, health considerations outweigh economic concerns.
"You're not gonna have a healthy economy if you have an unhealthy population," Wolf said. "The sequence is, you gotta get people healthy and then you can open the economy."
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, who sent a letter to Congress asking for more federal support, said his biggest worry is that people think it's safe to go out.
"The most important thing here is that we don't have a resurgence of this," Kenney said.
Because the peak is expected this week in Philadelphia, the mayor is expanding the Emergency Operations Center to be open around the clock and also help coordinate outreach.
In Montgomery County, officials said it appears the virus peaked there early last week.
