Coronavirus Pennsylvania: Philadelphia COVID-19 Cases Top 12,000 As Statewide Total Exceeds 41,000; Death Toll Climbs Above 1,700
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- The number of coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania has topped 41,000 as more than 1,700 people have now died from COVID-19. Health officials announced Saturday 1,397 additional COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total to 41,678.
In Philadelphia, 452 more COVID-19 cases were reported raising the city's total cases to 12,329, the amount of coronavirus-related deaths also rose and now stands at 466.
Statewide 126 more deaths were announced, raising the death toll to 1,789.
"As we see the number of new COVID-19 cases continuously change across the state that does not mean we can stop practicing social distancing," Sec. of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. "We must continue to stay home to protect ourselves, our families and our community. If you must go out, please make as few trips as possible and wear a mask to protect not only yourself, but others. We need all Pennsylvanians to continue to heed these efforts to protect our vulnerable Pennsylvanians, our health care workers and frontline responders."
Over 152,000 patients have tested negative for the virus.
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State officials say workers supporting the food supply chain in some areas of eastern Pennsylvania will be eligible for priority COVID-19 testing at two sites.
The policy applies to workers range from farmers and seasonal laborers to food processing facility and warehouse workers as well as grocery store employees who live or work in Montgomery, Susquehanna, Wyoming, Luzerne, Carbon, Monroe, Pike, Wayne, and Lackawanna counties, the state agriculture department said Saturday.
Adults with symptoms who work in agriculture or food supply and live or work in the affected counties will be able to get priority testing at the Montgomery County mass testing site or the federally funded site at the Mohegan Sun in Luzerne County, officials said.
The testing comes at no costs as tests are run through Pennsylvania's public laboratory system.
Officials cited the designation of agriculture and the entire food supply chain as life-sustaining combined with coronavirus hot spots in Montgomery County and northeastern Pennsylvania, where many of Pennsylvania's food processing facilities are located.
Wolf says a swath of rural northern Pennsylvania — spanning some 230 miles (370 kilometers) from east to west — is set to begin moving out from under his shutdown orders on May 8. That is partly based on a metric in the state's reopening plan that says new infections of the coronavirus must total no more than 50 for every 100,000 residents over a two-week period.
Meanwhile, some regions of Pennsylvania are tantalizingly close to escaping some pandemic restrictions. Other parts of the state could have a long way to go before residents and businesses begin getting back to normal.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
