Pennsylvania reports 4 more deaths, 643 new cases of coronavirus

Four more people in Pennsylvania have died from covid-19, increasing the statewide coronavirus death toll to 38, state health officials said Sunday at their daily briefing.

The state reported 643 new cases of covid-19. A total of 3,394 residents had tested positive as of noon Sunday.

Confirmed cases are now present in at least 58 of the state’s 67 counties.

More than 316 people who tested positive for the virus have been hospitalized. Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said 110 of the total patients hospitalized required intensive care unit treatment, and 64 people in ICU treatment needed a ventilator.

None of the covid-19 deaths have been children, Levine said.

Advice: Don’t visit nursing homes

Levine encouraged people who have family members in nursing homes that are in good health not to visit them. Strict guidelines have been implemented at such facilities in order to prevent coronavirus from getting in because seniors are among the most vulnerable to it.

“We are seeing cases of covid-19 in approximately 5% of nursing homes across the state, the majority in the southeastern area of Pennsylvania,” Levine said. “If you have a loved one in a nursing home or other long-term care living facility and they are in stable medical condition please do not visit them.

“I know this is hard. We are seeing community spread of this virus in most areas of Pennsylvania and we need to make sure that our loved ones in nursing homes stay safe.”

At least 36 nursing home or personal care facilities out of 700 across the state have one positive covid-19 case, Levine said. There are 64 confirmed covid-19 cases in such facilities, Levine said. That’s less than 0.1% of the nursing home population.

Levine’s mother is in a personal care home. Levine hasn’t been able to visit her, but calls twice a day.

“It’s very important to stay in touch and I know personally how challenging it is not to visit your loved one. But we must make sure that they are protected and that they stay safe,” Levine said.

Nursing home employees are required to stay home if they are sick or exhibit symptoms of covid-19, such as fever, cough or shortness of breath. If they come to work and have such symptoms, they will not be allowed in and the facility will ask them to get tested, Levine said.

The state currently is not testing anyone who is asymptomatic, meaning they’re not exhibiting symptoms of the virus, Levine said.

“A negative test really at this time doesn’t mean that much,” Levine said. “If you haven’t been exposed you could be exposed the next day and then test positive a few days later. Or you could be in that incubation period where your test would be negative even though you’re starting to have the virus.

“Unless you’re doing very large population-based testing, which we are not at this time, then we’re not testing asymptomatic people.”

Data from the state health department shows that roughly 41% of people who have tested positive for covid-19 are between the ages of ​25-49, the highest percentage for confirmed cases in the state, while people 65 and older are at about ​19%.

Levine said those numbers don’t come as a surprise. A “significant” number of people between 25-49 who tested positive for covid-19 have required hospitalization. However, the death rates in that age group are lower than that of seniors, who usually have other health problems that can weaken their systems and cause complications, Levine said.

“This highlights one of the things that we have been saying for a long time now is that younger adults and middle age adults should not be complacent,” Levine said. “They are not invulnerable and they are susceptible to this virus as everybody else is. They can get very sick, too.”