Posted on 04/05/2021 2:24:02 PM PDT by lightman
More of Pennsylvania’s counties are now showing substantial spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Tom Wolf’s office said Monday.
Across Pennsylvania, 45 of the state’s 67 counties have demonstrated substantial transmission of COVID-19, Wolf’s office said. Last week, the Wolf administration said 35 counties were showing substantial transmission of the coronavirus, so 10 more counties have joined that list.
The Wolf administration uses three categories to gauge the transmission of COVID-19: low, moderate and substantial. Each week, the Wolf administration offers a report on the number of counties with substantial spread of COVID-19.
In February and March, the number of counties with high transmission of the coronavirus had been dropping. In mid-March, only 21 counties were designated as having substantial transmission. But since then, that number has more than doubled and now two-thirds of Pennsylvania’s counties are considered to have substantial spread of COVID-19.
The positive test rate for the coronavirus rose to 9.4% for the week of March 26 through April 1, up from 7.6% during the previous week. It’s the third straight week the positive rate has risen in Pennsylvania. At one point, the rate had dropped for 12 straight weeks.
For context, the rate of positive coronavirus tests remains well below the peak of 16.2% in December, but health officials have said a positive test rate higher than 5% is a source of concern. The rate had been 5.7% just three weeks ago.
More than 2,200 people are being treated in hospitals for COVID-19, an increase of more than 800 since mid-March, according to data from the Pennsylvania Health Department. Hospitalizations remain well below the peak of about 6,300 in December, but the state’s hospitals are admitting more people for COVID-19 treatment.
The rising number of counties with substantial spread and the uptick in hospitalizations comes as the state is easing restrictions on restaurants and other businesses. Under the new rules, restaurants can move up to 75% of indoor occupancy, resume bar service and serve alcohol up until 2 a.m.
New guidance for schools
State officials have urged school districts to evaluate the spread of COVID-19 in determining whether students should be in school, educated remotely or with a mix of distance learning and face-to-face instruction. Most school districts are offering at least some in-person instruction but some of Pennsylvania’s schools continue to operate remotely.
On Monday, the Wolf administration offered some revised guidance for schools.
Even in counties with substantial spread of COVID-19, schools are advised they can continue offering at least a blended learning model mixing remote instruction with in-person classes, Wolf’s office said. Previously, the state advised middle and high schools to consider shifting toward remote instruction in counties with substantial transmission.
In counties with moderate transmission, the state’s new guidance says schools can continue with face-to-face instruction full-time, or schools can opt for a hybrid approach.
“We remain committed to doing everything we can to create the conditions for a return to in-person instruction as soon as safely possible,” Acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega said in a statement. “Our updated instructional model recommendations create additional flexibilities for school leaders to make decisions at the local level consistent with best practices and with public health and safety at the forefront.”
The Wolf administration stresses the guidance for schools is not a mandate.
Only five counties are showing low transmission of COVID-19, while 17 counties have moderate spread of the virus, the Wolf administration said. All of the counties in the Harrisburg area are now showing substantial transmission.
Here’s the full breakdown of COVID-19 transmission levels in each county.
Low: Cameron, Forest, Fulton, Potter and Sullivan
Moderate: Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Fayette, Indiana, Jefferson, McKean, Mercer, Snyder, Somerset, Tioga, Union, Venango and Warren
Substantial: Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Berks, Bradford, Bucks, Butler, Carbon, Centre, Chester, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Elk, Franklin, Greene, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mifflin, Monroe, Montgomery, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Philadelphia, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Washington, Wayne, Westmoreland, Wyoming and York
Vaccine rollout
The state is also expanding its COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
Beginning Monday, all residents in Phase 1B are now eligible for the vaccines and can begin scheduling appointments. This phase includes mass transit employees, manufacturing workers, postal employees and clergy. They join key front-line workers who became eligible for the vaccine last week, including law enforcement, firefighters, grocery store employees and food and agriculture workers.
Starting April 12, all residents in Phase 1C can start scheduling appointments. Phase 1C covers more critical workers including those in the energy sector, legal services, housing construction, federal, state and local government workers, financial services, bank tellers and information technology workers.
On April 19, everyone will be eligible for the vaccines, Gov. Wolf said last week.
More than 3.7 million Pennsylvanians have received at least one shot and more than 2 million have been fully vaccinated, according to the Pennsylvania Health Department. The state data doesn’t include the city of Philadelphia, which is handling its own rollout.
In Philadelphia, more than 530,000 people have been given at least one dose and more than 278,000 are fully vaccinated, according to city health department data through April 1.
Combining the city and state data, here’s the vaccination picture in Pennsylvania: More than 4.2 million have had at least one shot and nearly 2.3 million are fully vaccinated.
More than 1 million people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus in Pennsylvania and more than 25,000 deaths have been tied to COVID-19, according to the Pennsylvania Health Department.
Most of those who are infected suffer relatively mild symptoms and many don’t even get sick, health officials say. But doctors say the virus poses serious risks to everyone, particularly for seniors and those with chronic medical conditions.
I understand why Forest county is low - no one lives there! Well, except at the prison.
Can’t get past the paywall.
Covid test rates are going up. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity.
Isn’t PA still at least partially locked down, wearing muzzles, taking vaccines and stuff?
What is “SUBSTANTIAL?” I didn’t see any actual case numbers in the article—just percentage of increases.
And as everyone knows... if there was one case last week and two this week—that’s a 100% increase! Percentages don’t mean anything without actual numbers.
The Governor has no end date in sight for the muzzle mandate.
Yesterday restaurants were allowed to go to 50% indoor dining (75% if they "self certify" which is basically an invitation to civil court bankruptcy if just ONE customer is caught not "masked up") plus other gathering capacities were loosened.
Dr. (Dickless) Richard aka "Rachel" Levine had been the Secretary of Health until being kicked upstairs to Sloe Joe and the Ho.
No further explanation needed!
“Can’t get past the paywall.”
hmmm....getting the tweets about Yeardon and Kary Mullis...but I cannot get the video from Darren Beattie who appears on Warroom Pandemic
The 2 mentioned prior say the PCR tests are unreliable.
Welcome to the Outer Limits. Please stand by.
They better be careful. They’ll end up with more cases than citizens. Sort of like when Philly had 110% turnout for obama. More voters than voters.
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