Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine released a weekly status update detailing the state’s mitigation efforts based on the COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard. Updates will be released each Monday beginning today.
The update includes the following:
– Level of community transmission as a basis for the recommendations for Pre-K to 12 schools to determine instructional models
– Cases that reported visiting a business among potential locations where exposures may have occurred
– Updated travel recommendations
The dashboard is designed to provide early warning signs of factors that affect the state’s mitigation efforts. The data available on the early warning monitoring dashboard includes week-over-week case differences, incidence rates, test percent-positivity and rates of hospitalizations, ventilations and emergency room visits tied to COVID-19. This week’s update compares the period of Aug. 14-20 to the previous seven days, Aug. 7-13.
“Our percent positivity decreased significantly this week, representing the fourth straight week that the percent positivity has decreased,” said Wolf. “This is a testament that our actions are working, but we still have more work to do. The virus is still circulating, and we must continue to wear masks, practice social distancing and avoid large gatherings to keep our numbers low, stop the spread and allow more freedom.”
As of Thursday, Aug. 20, the state has seen a seven-day increase of 4,456; the previous seven-day increase was 5,598, indicating a 1,142-case decrease across the state over the past week.
In Bucks County, COVID-19 infection rates continue to stabilize at a relatively low level, averaging 26 cases per day. Hospitalizations remain low, but one death was reported on Aug. 20 – the fifth this month. Bucks County is in the “moderate” level of transmission, according to the Department of Health.
The statewide percent positivity went down to 3.4 percent from 4.0 percent last week.
The Department of Health is providing weekly data on the number of individuals who responded to case investigators that they spent time at business establishments (restaurants, bars, gym/fitness centers, salon/barber shops) and at mass gatherings 14 days prior to the onset of COVID-19 symptoms. Of the 5,649 confirmed cases reported between Aug. 9-15, 45 percent (2,541) provided an answer to the question as to whether they spent time at a business establishment. Of those who did provide an answer, 13 percent, or 320, answered yes, they visited a business establishment 14 days prior to onset of symptoms.
– 50 percent (159) of those who said yes reported going to a restaurant
– 23 percent (75) reported going to some other business establishment
– 17 percent (55) reported going to a bar
– 8 percent (26) reported going to a gym/fitness center
– 12 percent (38) reported going to a salon/barber shop
Of the 5,649 confirmed cases, 48 percent (2,710) answered the question as to whether they attended a mass gathering or other large event. Of the 48 percent, nearly 12 percent (326) answered yes to whether they attended a mass gathering or other large event 14 days prior to onset of symptoms.
Compared to data reported on Aug. 14, this week’s data saw an increase in people who reported visiting a restaurant (50 percent vs. 47 percent), people who reported going to some other business (23 percent vs. 19 percent), and people going to a salon/barber shop (12 percent vs. 9 percent). Numbers went down for this week’s data for going to a bar (17 percent vs. 24 percent), going to a gym/fitness center (8 percent vs. 10 percent). The number of those who attended a mass gathering or other large event remained the same (nearly 12 percent).
Case investigator notes included frequent mentions of visits to bars and restaurants among positive cases. To better understand this emerging trend, on July 13 contact tracers began asking more specific questions on the types of businesses visited and if individuals attended a mass gathering, defined as more than 250 in attendance outdoors or more than 25 indoors.
The numbers above highlight business settings and mass gatherings as possible sites for transmission, according to Wolf and Levine. With less than half of those asked about what types of businesses they visited or if they attended a mass gathering responding to the question, the department is reminding Pennsylvanians that it is essential that people answer the phone when case investigators call and to provide full and complete information to these clinical professionals.
Also, the Department of Health updated its travel recommendations, originally announced on July 2, to remove Arizona from the list of states recommended for domestic travelers returning from to quarantine for 14 days upon return to Pennsylvania. No new states were added. This recommendation is in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. A concerning number of recent cases have been linked to travel, and if people are going to travel, the Department of Health said it needs them to take steps to protect themselves, their loved ones and their community, and that involves quarantining.
Residents should continue to take actions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, regardless of what county they live in. This includes wearing a mask or face covering anytime they are in public. COVID-19 has been shown to spread easily in the air and contagious carriers can be asymptomatic.
