Gov. Wolf orders the transfer among hospitals of COVID-19 supplies
Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday ordered the transfer of COVID-19 supplies among hospitals and related facilities to where they are needed the most to treat patients with the virus.
“We do not yet have the virus under control,” Wolf said during an afternoon briefing on the state’s response to the pandemic.
Wolf said Pennsylvania is not seeing the exponential growth of new patients as has occurred in prior weeks.
He urged Pennsylvanians to “buckle down” and continue to stay home to slow the spread of the disease, which has killed 309 people statewide since early March.
Pennsylvania reported 70 new COVID-19 deaths Wednesday, and had positive cases in each of the state’s 67 counties for the first time.
The state also reported 1,680 new cases Wednesday, taking the total to 16,239.
The number of new cases statewide has come down for the past consecutive seven days, “which is good news,” state health department Secretary Rachel Levine said.
“We cannot become complacent,” Levine said Wednesday. “Now more than ever it’s essential that we please stay home.”
The mitigation actions also include wearing masks in public and keeping schools and nonessential businesses closed at least through April 30.
Allegheny County reported four new deaths overnight, taking its total number of victims to 10.
Allegheny County also said an inmate at its jail had tested positive for coronavirus, and that the person and a cellmate have been quarantined.
That county delivered more personal protective equipment to the jail Wednesday morning, said Debra Bogen, director of the county’s health department.
Bogen said there was positive evidence that staying at home has been slowing the rise in new cases in Allegheny.
“It’s too soon to let up,” she said.
The county has 720 confirmed cases, an increase of 31 in one day.
Washington County registered two new COVID-19 cases, taking its total to 59. Greene County’s cases also increased by two, with a total of 17. Westmoreland County registered its first death from the virus and an increase of six new cases, taking its total to 183.