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Pennsylvania has reached a “worrying milestone” in covid-19 infections and hospitalizations, Health Secretary Rachel Levine said Monday.
Levine said the state’s positivity rate percentage – measuring the number of covid-19 tests that come back with positive results – is now over 12%. Health experts said any rate above 5% was concerning.
As of Monday, only Forest County is below 5% and five counties have rates above 20%, Levine said. However, no further shutdown or mitigation is planned at this time.
“We will be monitoring this data very closely,” said Levine. “We don’t have any additional mitigation plans. We had instituted mitigation measures in the last 2 weeks and will see the effects, but it will be difficult for me to predict the future based on what will be needed later.
Ahead of Thanksgiving, the state expanded its existing mask mandate and implemented new travel protocols, requiring 14 days of quarantine or a negative covid test for anyone entering the state.
Still, Monday’s Department of Health update shows more than 4,400 people are hospitalized with covid-19 statewide – beating even the highest numbers in the spring. More than 4,000 new infections were reported Monday, bringing Pennsylvania’s total to 361,464 since March. There have also been 32 deaths – and more than 500 last week alone.
Instead, Levine reiterated his calls for the public to comply with existing mitigation orders. She announced that the state’s contact tracing app, Covid Alert PA, will be extended to serve users aged 13 and older. Before Monday, only users over 18 could use the app.
“By expanding the age range, middle and high school students will be able to add their phones to the fight and help with the contact tracing that occurs in their schools if a positive case is identified,” Levine said, noting that the Pennsylvania has recorded almost 28,000 cases of covid-19 in children since March – including about 8,000 in the past two weeks alone.
On mitigation strategies in schools, Levine and Acting Secretary of State for Education Noe Ortega said switching to online learning remains a local decision for each school district. Ortega said the department offers a wide range of resources to enable schools to maintain more normal procedures, but still recommends distance learning for districts in areas where community transmission is important.
The Department of Education last week introduced a new policy requiring districts in counties with significant community transmission to switch to full distance education or complete a form to claim they are following covid-19 safety measures. of State.
“Schools don’t operate in a vacuum,” Ortega said. “A lot of the things that we see happening in our schools are, in many cases, the result of what is happening in the community as well.
There are no plans at this time to make the covid-19 vaccination mandatory for school children – or anyone else – when it becomes available, Levine said.
Officials said the state continues to monitor cases in schools and elsewhere – with hospitalizations being a concern. Levine said hospitals in the state were under strain and the Department of Health had asked them to collaborate regionally on staffing, bed availability and other resource needs.
“We really want them to self-regulate their own hospitals and regionally in terms of ‘elective procedures’ so that they have the staff and beds available to take care of patients.”
Levine’s update comes amid an alarming wave of infections and hospitalizations across the region. Allegheny County alone recorded more new infections in 72 hours last week than in April, May and June combined. Hospitals in western Pennsylvania also set records for inpatients with covid, with medical professionals warning some facilities are running out of intensive care beds.
Allegheny County Health Director Dr Debra Bogen said she was also concerned.
“I expect to see an increase in new Thanksgiving covid-19 cases and I have remained concerned that if our cases continue to increase at this rate, it will strain hospitals’ capacity and staff. from our region, ”said Bogen.
She asked people who ignored the warnings and attended large gatherings to monitor themselves for possible symptoms of covid-19.
“Look for tests if you start to feel sick and avoid all others as you recover,” Bogen said.
Teghan Simonton is a staff writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Teghan at 724-226-4680, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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