Gov. Wolf issues statewide stay-home order, Fayette County has its first COVID-19 death
Gov. Tom Wolf extended his COVID-19 stay-home order Wednesday to include all counties in Pennsylvania after the number of new cases was believed to have topped 1,000 overnight, and the virus had killed 74 people statewide since early March.
Meanwhile, Fayette County announced it experienced its first coronavirus death Wednesday in a rural county where the number of positive cases of the virus hadn’t shown an increase since Tuesday.
“This virus is spreading rapidly, Wolf said during an online briefing Wednesday afternoon. “It’s everywhere.”
Wolf said the coronavirus has spread to nursing homes and state prisons, and that his updated order would not end until April 30.
“This next month will be difficult,” he said.
Meanwhile, a state Supreme Court order Wednesday extended the closure of courts to the public through April 30. The order prevents home evictions and allows the courts to open for emergency reasons, including protection-from-abuse cases.
The number of COVID-19 deaths statewide increased by 11 since Tuesday, the state Health Department said. The state added 962 confirmed cases Tuesday, bringing the total number of positive test results to 5,805.
Washington County had two more confirmed cases of coronavirus Tuesday, taking its total to 35. Greene County had nine cases, the same number that was released Tuesday.
“The coronavirus is easily transmitted, especially in group settings, and it is essential that the spread of the virus be slowed to flatten the curve of exposure/illness,” Greene County commissioners stated in a joint release after learning about Wolf’s order.
Allegheny County recorded 31 additional cases of the virus Wednesday. It has seen two deaths from the virus and 356 positive cases of the disease, its health department said. There have been no COVID-19 deaths in Washington or Greene counties. Fayette had 14 confirmed cases.
“Some people infected with COVID-19 do not have symptoms and may still be able to transmit the disease to others without knowing that they have it. This is why physical distancing is so important,” the health department in Allegheny County said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Westmoreland County experienced 11 new cases of the virus Tuesday, taking its total to 72.
Wolf said he earlier used an aggressive approach to close nonessential businesses to help prevent the spread of the virus and strain hospitals.
He said the state has been struggling to keep up with nearly one million applications for unemployment compensation.
“If we do not do this correctly, there will be a huge surge in the number of cases, state health Secretary Rachel Levine said.
“I understand staying at home will be difficult,” Levine said.
Wolf echoed her statement by saying it’s hard for people to not be able to visit their friends and relatives.
He said if residents do not do this correctly, “there will be some people who you will never see again.”