Mar 17, 2020 5 min read

Washington County declared a disaster emergency Tuesday after a second case of coronavirus was made public earlier in the day.

The second case was announced as another 20 positive cases of the virus were reported Tuesday afternoon in Pennsylvania, the state Heath Department secretary said.

The increase takes the statewide total to 96, with Allegheny County rising by two, bringing its number to eight, Secretary Rachel Levine said.

“Pennsylvanians have a very important job right now: stay calm; stay home and stay safe. We have seen case counts continue to increase, and the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is stay home,” Levine said.

All of the patients were either in isolation at home or being treated at the hospital.

The additional cases were as follows: two in Allegheny County; one in Beaver County; three in Bucks County; two in Chester County; five in Cumberland County; two in Delaware County; two in Montgomery County; two in Philadelphia County; and one in Washington County.

The state’s reporting has shifted to a daily update at noon based on results reported to the department by midnight, as the volume of test results continues to increase, Levine said.

The spread of coronavirus prompted Gov. Tom Wolf a day earlier to strongly suggest that all nonessential businesses close, giving restaurants an exception to sell take-out food only. Grocery stores, gasoline stations, pharmacies and health-care facilities were to remain open.

There were 879 patients who had tested negative. With commercial labs being the primary testing option for most residents, data was not available on the total number of tests pending.

The Allegheny County Health Department recorded different numbers Tuesday. The department said it received confirmation at mid-morning Tuesday of one new case of the virus, and three presumptive positive cases, taking its total to 10.

Allegheny spokeswoman Aime Downs has said the discrepancy between the state’s numbers and its numbers involved commercial labs lagging behind in uploading information to the state.

The new confirmed case involved an individual in their 60s who is currently hospitalized. Where the person acquired the virus was not immediately known, the county said.

The three new presumptive positive cases are all young adults over the age of 18 who are in isolation at home, Downs said. Two of the patients acquired COVID-19 through recent international travel and one through recent domestic travel.

State Supreme Court Justice David N. Wecht of Pittsburgh said one of his children caught the virus while studying abroad, and that he learned about it Monday after his child returned home. Wecht said in a news release that he and his family were quarantined at home.

Washington County reported its first case Friday. County Director of Public Safety Jeffrey Yates said the disaster declaration was issued about 3 p.m. and that its main intention was to “relax some of the purchasing process.”

“There are things we would like to purchase, and when they become available, we need to be able to do that quickly,” Yates said.

Those purchases include items such as N95 face masks, hand sanitizers and related items, which are difficult to find in stores or online.

“They’re in short order everywhere – doesn’t matter where you are,” Yates said.

According to the news release issued by the county commissioners, the declaration was “preventative” to allow them to plan for potential emergency response.

“Given the ever-changing situation surrounding COVID-19, the county along with the rest of the country identifies the need to put into place proactive measures to respond to all potential threats that this virus presents,” Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan said in the release.

She said the county’s department of public safety is working with local partners, hospitals, municipalities and state and federal agencies to “monitor” the pandemic.

At a 2 p.m. news briefing, Levine said there are a number of coronavirus cases in which the state has been unable to track where individuals contracted the virus.

She said there appears to be limited community spread of the virus and no indication of sustained community spread at this time. Levine also said hospitals are not being “overtaxed,” but that could change in the next two weeks.

With the closings of liquor stores, Levine said, the state Drug and Alcohol Program was developing a plan for assisting severe alcoholics.

Dentists are at a particular risk because of how close they are to patients, and guidelines were being developed for them, Levine said.

She urged residents to donate blood, donate to food banks and call on senior citizens to make sure they have everything they need.

With new commercial labs and those now at hospitals, it’s becoming difficult for the state to track the number of people who have been tested and the number of tests where the results are pending, Levine added.

Central Outreach Wellness Center, 95 Leonard Ave., Washington, was hoping to receive 20 test kits Tuesday to detect coronavirus, but had not gotten a shipment from Quest Diagnostics by early afternoon.

“Quest is looking into it,” said Carol Priest, certified registered nurse practitioner for Central Outreach as she fielded phone calls and waited for a delivery.

“Anyone with a primary care physician should call their PCP,” she said. “Their PCP has to deem it an appropriate test.”

The criteria include people who have symptoms like persistent dry cough, fever and shortness of breath; people who have had contact with someone who has a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus; or someone who has traveled recently to affected areas.

If a patient clears those hurdles, the physician can fax a prescription for a test to the Washington Health Systems testing center, or, if a person has UPMC health insurance, a doctor can fax a prescription to UPMC Mercy South Side in Pittsburgh.

Staff writers Barbara S. Miller and Katie Anderson contributed to this report.