Coronavirus Pennsylvania: COVID-19 Death Toll Nears 2,300 As Cases Surpass 45,000
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania has surpassed 45,000 as the death toll now nears 2,300. On Wednesday, health officials reported an additional 1,102 cases, bringing the statewide total to 45,410.
The death toll climbed to 2,287 after 479 new deaths were announced. These deaths occurred over the last two weeks.
"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," Pennsylvania Health Secretary 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."
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Over 170,000 patients have tested negative.
Meanwhile, Gov. Tom Wolf's administration plans to announce Friday which parts of Pennsylvania will begin seeing a step-by-step relaxation of coronavirus-related shutdown directives, although Wolf and administration officials did not project when the state will secure widespread mass-testing capacity.
Wolf, in a telephone news conference on Tuesday, didn't estimate how long it will take to reach mass-testing capacity, and said his administration is working different "avenues" try to secure that capacity.
His administration doesn't have a "benchmark for where we need to be," although widespread testing is of paramount importance as long as a vaccine is a long ways off, he said.
"I believe that there's a pretty broad agreement that testing is going to be at the heart of whatever it is we do, anybody does, to make people feel comfortable and safe and confident that they can go back to whatever it was that they want to do," Wolf told reporters.
On Friday, the administration will announce which regions or counties can see some relief from shutdown orders by moving from a "red" designation to a "yellow" designation, Levine said.
Those changes would take effect the following Friday, May 8, a previously announced date. Amid growing complaints from some parts of the state, Levine and Wolf both said Tuesday that a county's designation is not necessarily tied to a wider region's.
Friday's announcement will come with a benchmark for testing "that we'll be shooting for," Levine said. "It will be aspirational, that we would like to get to this much testing in those areas."
Under yellow, a ban on gatherings of over 25 people will remain, and gyms, casinos, theaters and other indoor recreational, wellness and entertainment venues will stay closed. Restaurants and bars will still be limited to carry-out or delivery, and businesses must follow federal and state guidance for social distancing and cleaning.
In the meantime, even testing every prison inmate and every nursing home resident and employees — places particularly vulnerable to outbreaks — is beyond the state's ability, Levine said.
Pennsylvania has been dogged by shortages of testing materials like swabs and reagents, Wolf has said.
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