Apr 26, 2020 4 min read

Pennsylvania’s positive COVID-19 cases passed 40,000 this week, as another 45 deaths related to the virus were reported Saturday.

As of early Saturday morning, 1,397 new cases brought the statewide total to 40,049. Across the state, 1,537 people have died.

In Washington County, no new deaths were reported, but there are now 99 positive cases. Greene County numbers remained the same at 25 cases and no deaths, while Fayette County rose by four to 79 positive cases and no new deaths.

Earlier this week, the state slashed the statewide death numbers by about 200 – the number of presumed positive cases in which the person died but was never tested. According to Washington County Coroner Tim Warco, that decision was made “after 67 counties called them and said, ‘You’re not giving an accurate count.'”

The state initially didn’t want to use tests on the deceased, especially if there weren’t supplies to test the living. Warco said Saturday that he did receive three testing kits from the state about two weeks ago. He said that not testing the deceased “doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in terms of accurate numbers.”

Warco also said it posed a problem and potential health risk when he gets called to a home of a presumptive case, because without test kits, he’s unable to provide any answers to family members, loved ones and first responders at the scene.

“They exhibited symptoms of this virus, and I can’t help them,” Warco said. “You can imagine how the first responders and the family members felt about that.”

Levine said in her news conference Saturday that her office will reach out to the state coroner’s association to plan a meeting for next week, “to work out a solution and a path forward.” She said that for now, they’re only reporting the confirmed deaths.

Levine said the state needs to increase testing resources, especially in areas expected to move from “red” to “yellow,” so they can “prevent any potential outbreaks in those regions.”

“The shortage of testing resources has been a problem,” Levine said. “Overall I think we’re doing somewhat better in terms of that.”

She said area hospitals and the state lab have received more supplies, including N95 masks, though there’s still a shortage of gloves, gowns and surgical masks. She said the state will try to get these supplies “anywhere we can find them.”

“We need to watch the supply chain very carefully,” she said. “We will make sure that hospitals that are battling COVID-19 have the supplies they need.”

The southeast region of the state is where they need the most supplies right now, Levine said, but the state also wants to make sure that regions moving from “red” to “yellow” are stocked, as the public starts to reopen.

“I do not think this will challenge the reopening process,” she said.

Levine also mentioned that hospitals aren’t the only facilities that need personal protective equipment, but also the long-term care facilities and nursing homes.

Of the statewide deaths reported, 942 of them were residents of nursing homes or personal care facilities, according to Saturday’s report. The state reported that in 425 such facilities across the state, there are 6,544 positive cases of COVID-19 in residents and 782 positive cases among employees.

Washington County reported three personal care facilities that had positive cases, with a total of six residents and two employees testing positive. One of the two deaths reported in the county was a nursing home resident.

Of the 2,748 COVID-19 patients that are hospitalized throughout the state, Levine said 623 of them require ventilators. Most of those hospitalized and most of the deaths occurred in patients 65 or older, according to a news release.

When asked what Pennsylvanians can expect the summer to look like when it comes to pools and parks being open, Levine said “the virus determines the timeline.”

The state developed metrics for communities to follow when determining when it’s safe to reopen. The target goal is to have fewer than 50 new positive cases per 100,000 people in the past 14 days. Washington County has just over 200,000 people.

Levine said she suspects that when things do start opening up again and people go back to work, there will be a “new normal.”

“As the governor often says, Pennsylvanians are strong and resilient, and we will get through this,” Levine said.