Pennsylvania coronavirus updates: 570 new cases; the death toll reaches 7,500; how to avoid contact search scams | COVID-19 PA County Case Map (08/19/20)

Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 death toll officially surpassed 7,500 on Wednesday.

570 new cases of coronavirus have also been reported, continuing a general downward trend this month. That brings the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 126,149, while the 24 additional deaths bring the death toll to 7,523, according to the daily report from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

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Locally, the Lehigh Valley, for which no new deaths were reported on Wednesday, has plummeted to rates of unseen cases simultaneously in both counties since the early days of the pandemic.

And as schools reopen, contact tracing will be a key part of containing the coronavirus. As the state prepares to roll out a contact tracing app, the Wolf administration recently released advice on preventing fraudsters from falsely posing as state agents.

Here are your updates on the Pennsylvania coronavirus for August 19, 2020.

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Coronavirus in Pa.

The seven-day average of new cases fell overall this month, starting at 902 cases per day on average.

As of Wednesday, the state was recording an average of 717 cases per day over the past week, up from 774 at this time last week.

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The seven-day hospital admissions average is also trending down this month, after rebounding slightly in July. The weekly average of daily tests has gone down, as has the positivity rate.

However, the death rate from COVID-19 in Pennsylvania is increasing. On average, 20 Pennsylvanians per day died from the virus in the past week. The rate is same as a week ago and up from 13 in early August.

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At least 170,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. Pennsylvania is one of nine states with more than 5,000 deaths each, according to the latest CDC data, which may be behind some states.

MORE: COVID-19 monitoring in Pa. With data, interactive graphics

Coronavirus in the Lehigh Valley

Lehigh Valley had 16 new cases and no new deaths in Wednesday’s state report, officially putting the region at 9,115 cases and 637 deaths.

It breaks down into:

• 5,093 total cases and 341 deaths in County Lehigh, with eight new cases and no deaths reported on the last day.
• 4,022 total cases and 296 deaths in Northampton County, with eight new cases and no deaths reported on the last day.

(Can’t see the graph? Click here.)

The seven-day averages of daily cases in the two Lehigh Valley counties are among the lowest seen here since the end of March, when cases began to increase exponentially.

Lehigh County recorded an average of 10 cases per day last week, up from 19 a week ago. The county’s seven-day average has been no less than 10 since March 26, around the time the Lehigh Valley was put on lockdown.

Northampton County, meanwhile, is recording an average of nine cases a day over the past week, which is equal to that point last week. The county’s seven-day rate has previously fallen to single digits, but has not fallen below nine since, again, March 26.

Here’s how Pennsylvania’s neighboring Lehigh Valley counties are doing with the coronavirus, state data showed on Wednesday:

• Berks County has 5,683 total cases and 376 deaths, with 38 new cases and one death reported on the last day.
• Bucks County has 7,481 total cases and 584 deaths, with 23 new cases and no deaths reported on the last day.
• Carbon County has 408 total cases and 28 deaths, with two new cases and no deaths reported on the last day.
• Monroe County has 1,671 total cases and 125 deaths, with one new case and no deaths reported on the last day.
• Montgomery County has 10,523 total cases and 860 deaths, with 43 new cases and one death reported on the last day.
• Schuylkill County has 957 total cases and 51 deaths, with five new cases and no deaths reported on the last day.

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How to identify a contact tracing scam

Contact tracing is an important part of coronavirus containment, the process of identifying and notifying people who have been exposed to a positive patient.

A contact finder app for contact tracing is slated to launch next month in Pennsylvania. The state has a team of over 1,000 contact tracers statewide (and they are hiring more). Staff and volunteers reach out to potentially exposed people on an initial phone call and follow up through calls, texts, emails and mailings.

But some scammers may try to impersonate a contact tracer in an attempt to collect sensitive information from potential victims. The state recently released advice for residents to identify a real contact tracer from a fake.

A contact tracer check your date of birth, address and phone number and, if you have ever tested positive for COVID-19, the date and location of your coronavirus test. The information is not shared with any law enforcement agency.

A contact tracer do not ask for your social security number, financial information, photos, passwords or payment. They will not ask you for personal information via text message or send you a link to a website requesting it.

If you want to verify that the contact tracer that called you is legitimate, call the Pennsylvania Department of Health at 1-877-PA HEALTH (1-877-724-3258).

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Steve Novak can be reached at [email protected].