Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine today released a weekly status update detailing the state’s mitigation efforts based on the COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System panel, highlighting a seven-day increase in cases of 42,322, a statewide positivity of 14.4% and all 67 counties with substantial transmission status.
The update includes the following:
The panel is designed to provide early warning signs of factors affecting the state’s mitigation efforts. The data available on the early warning monitoring panel include differences from week to week cases, incidence rates, percentage of positivity tests and rates of hospitalizations, ventilations and visits to the emergency department linked to COVID-19. This week’s update compares the period from January 1 to January 7 with the previous seven days, from December 25 to December 31.
“While I am grateful to see our percentage of positivity across the state decline for another consecutive week, we still have more work to do to keep our friends and loved ones safe from spreading through our communities,” said Governor Wolf. “As the inhabitants of Pennsylvania travel within their communities, I want to take the opportunity to remind them to stay safe wearing masks, to distance themselves socially and to avoid crowds of people. If you travel somewhere they are not, I encourage you to make the right choice when you leave. “
As of Thursday, January 7, the state saw a seven-day increase in cases from 42,322 cases; the previous seven-day increase was 41,228 cases, indicating an additional 1,034 new cases across the state last week compared to the previous week.
The percentage of positivity across the state dropped to 14.4% from 15.0% last week. All counties in the state have a worrying percentage of positivity above 5%. This includes 14 counties with a percentage positivity of 20% or more, a decrease of seven counties from the previous week.
“We continue to report widespread transmission in the community, as COVID-19 remains a threat in our communities,” said Health Secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine. “We need to stay calm, stay alert and stay safe wearing a mask, avoiding encounters, practicing social detachment, taking calls when public health professionals call and downloading the COVID Alert PA app.”
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As of Friday’s data, all 67 counties were at the substantial level of community transmission, the highest level of transmission.
For the week ending January 7, 67 counties were at the substantial level of transmission.
Cases between 5 and 18 years of age
The Department of Health is providing weekly data on the number of COVID-19 cases across the state between 5 and 18 years of age.
Throughout the pandemic, there were 58,045 total cases of COVID-19 between 5 and 18 years of age. Of this total, 5,128 occurred between January 1 and January 7. In the week from December 25 to December 31, there were 3,929 cases of COVID-19 in the age group of 5 to 18 years.
Cases by demographic group are available on the DOH website.
Business visits
The Department of Health is providing weekly data on the number of individuals who responded to case investigators who spent time in commercial establishments (restaurants, bars, gyms, salons / barber shops) and in mass meetings 14 days before the start of Symptoms of covid19.
It is important to note that due to the recent number of cases, the department is prioritizing case investigations to prevent outbreaks. In addition to the need to answer the call, the expressive number of cases contributes to the low percentages of case investigation data. All of this reinforces the need for the inhabitants of Pennsylvania to take measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Of the 51,260 cases reported between December 7 and January 2, 4.5 percent (2,309) answered the question whether they spent time in a commercial establishment.
Of those who provided an answer, 0.3 percent, or 134, said yes, they visited a commercial establishment 14 days before the onset of symptoms:
- 17 percent (23) of those who said yes reported going to a restaurant;
- 51 percent (68) of those who said yes reported having gone to some other business establishment;
- 22 percent (30) of those who said yes reported going to a bar;
- 9 percent (12) of those who said yes reported going to a gym / fitness center; and
- 18 percent (24) of those who said yes reported going to a beauty salon / barber shop.
Of the 53,947 confirmed cases, 4.4 percent (2,388) answered the question whether they attended a mass meeting or another major event. Of the 4.2 percent of cases, 7 percent (101) answered yes if they attended a mass meeting or other major event 14 days before the onset of symptoms.
Compared to data reported on January 4, this week’s data showed an increase for people who reported going to a bar (22 percent versus 19 percent last week) and going to a beauty salon / barbershop (18 percent percent versus 16 percent last week), going to some other business (51% to 34% last week), going to the gym (9% versus 5% last week). The data showed a decrease for people who reported going to a restaurant (17 percent versus 39 percent last week). The number of people who attended a mass meeting or other major event has decreased from 7% to 6 percent compared to last week.
The figures above highlight business environments and mass meetings as possible locations for transmission. It is important to note that Pennsylvania is currently experiencing widespread transmission in the community. With less than 10 percent of respondents asked about the types of businesses they visited or attended a mass meeting answering the question, the department is again reminding the inhabitants of Pennsylvania that it is essential that they answer the phone when case investigators call and provide complete information and complete information for these clinical professionals.
Travel recommendations
In November, the Department of Health issued an updated travel order requiring anyone over the age of 11 visiting from another state to provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test or to be placed in a travel quarantine for 14 days after entering the country. Pennsylvania. The travel quarantine orientation was changed to 10 days on December 5 based on the new CDC guidance.
This order does not apply to people moving to and from another state for work or medical treatment, those who have left the state for less than 24 hours or those who comply with a court order, including custody of the children.
It is important that people understand that this Order exists to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. A worrying number of recent cases have been related to travel, and if people are going to travel, we need them to take steps to protect themselves, their loved ones and their community, and that involves having a negative test or being quarantined.
Governor Wolf continues to prioritize the health and safety of all Pennsylvania residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pennsylvania residents must continue to take steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19, regardless of the county in which they live. This includes the use of a mask or facial cover whenever they are in public. It has been shown that COVID-19 spreads easily in the air and contagious carriers can be asymptomatic. Pennsylvania residents are encouraged to wash their hands, socialize, avoid meetings and download COVID Alert PA.