Coronavirus Pennsylvania: COVID-19-Related Deaths Top 1,100 As Statewide Total Rises Above 32,000; Philadelphia Cases Rise Above 9,200
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- The number of coronavirus cases in Philadelphia has now topped 9,200 as the statewide total stands over 32,000. Over 1,200 new coronavirus cases were reported in Pennsylvania on Sunday, bringing the total to 32,284.
Officials say 276 more people have died from COVID-19-related complications across the state, raising the death toll to 1,112.
Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine says the latest jump in deaths is a cumulative total and not all of the deaths happened within the last 24 hours.
"We have been working to reconcile our data with information from several different sources, including our NEDSS reporting system and our county and municipal health departments," Levine said. "This is the cause of the increase in deaths we are reporting today. This work takes time and so the increase in deaths today reflects the culmination of that effort, which will continue moving forward. The majority of these deaths did not occur overnight."
Levine added that 148 of them occurred last week.
She also emphasized the department was basing decisions on trends in the data indicating the effectiveness of social distancing and other mitigation efforts ordered by the governor.
"Our trends are showing that Pennsylvanians' sacrifice to stay at home is working," Levine said.
Over 126,00 patients have tested negative for the virus.
In Philadelphia, the total number of coronavirus cases is now 9,214 after 200 new cases were reported by city health officials. Twenty-two more COVID-19-related deaths were also reported and the citywide death toll now stands at 365.
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This latest report comes as a new order is set to go into effect will require that all customers and employees at essential businesses wear masks.
The order will go into effect at 8 p.m. Sunday.
It includes those who work in warehouses, manufacturing facilities and other places that remain in business but aren't open to the public.
"This order provides critical protections for the workers needed to run and operate these life-sustaining establishments," Gov. Tom Wolf said. "Businesses across the state have already begun to implement many of these protocols on their own, and we applaud their efforts to protect employees and customers."
Failure to comply with these requirements will result in an enforcement action that could include citations, fines or license suspensions.
Meanwhile, protesters will call on Wolf to reopen the economy on Monday in Harrisburg.
Wolf signaled he didn't mind the protest and said, "This is a democracy."
However, Levine expressed some concern about the demonstrators' well-being.
"If those people do not practice social distancing, if they don't stay in their cars if they come out and they're congregating together in a large crowd, of course with a global pandemic of a respiratory virus like COVID-19, that could facilitate the spread and I would actually worry very much about the health of those people," she said.
There were more stay-at-home protests across the country on Saturday.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
