Once again, more Pennsylvania counties are showing substantial spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Tom Wolf’s office said Monday.
Across Pennsylvania, 50 of the state’s 67 counties have substantial transmission of COVID-19, Wolf’s office said. That’s an additional five counties compared to last week, when the Wolf administration said 45 counties showed substantial transmission of COVID-19.
The positive test rate rose to 9.5% for the week of April 2-8, which represents a slight increase from 9.4% the previous week. It is the fourth straight week the positive rate has risen, but the uptick is much smaller than in previous weeks. At one point, the rate had dropped for 12 straight weeks.
The rate of positive coronavirus tests remains well below the peak of 16.2% in December, but health officials have said a positive test rate higher than 5% is a source of concern. The rate had been 5.7% four weeks ago.
“As the weather warms up, we need all Pennsylvanians to unite against COVID-19,” Wolf said in a statement. “Please continue to wear a mask, wash your hands, practice social distancing, and as it becomes your turn, make the decision to get vaccinated to best protect yourself from contracting the virus.”
Beginning Tuesday, April 13, everyone in Pennsylvania will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine and can start scheduling appointments, Wolf said.
State officials said it may take time before residents can actually get their shot but everyone can at least begin scheduling appointments starting Tuesday. Many providers are encouraging all residents to start registering for appointments right now.
The acceleration of the vaccine rollout comes amidst an uptick in new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations over the past few weeks.
A closer look
The Wolf administration uses three categories to gauge the transmission of COVID-19: low, moderate and substantial. Each week, the Wolf administration offers a report on the number of counties with substantial spread of COVID-19.
State officials have urged school districts to evaluate the spread of COVID-19 in determining whether students should be in school, educated remotely or with a mix of distance learning and face-to-face instruction. Most school districts are offering at least some in-person instruction but some of Pennsylvania’s schools continue to operate remotely.
Only three counties are showing low transmission of the virus, while 14 counties are showing moderate spread.
Virtually all of the counties in the Harrisburg are showing substantial transmission of COVID-19, according to the Wolf administration. There’s high spread throughout the Philadelphia region and in the Pittsburgh area as well.
Here’s the full breakdown of COVID-19 transmission levels in each county.
Low: Cameron, Forest and Fulton
Moderate: Bedford, Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Indiana, Jefferson, Juniata, McKean, Mercer, Mifflin, Snyder, Somerset, Venango and Warren
Substantial: Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Berks, Blair, Bradford, Bucks, Butler, Cambria, Carbon, Centre, Chester, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Elk, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Huntingdon, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Monroe, Montgomery, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Philadelphia, Pike, Potter, Schuylkill, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Washington, Wayne, Westmoreland, Wyoming and York
The vaccine rollout
Starting today, Pennsylvania expanded the state’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout to Phase 1C, which includes Pennsylvania state employees, federal government workers and employees of all county and local government levels.
Phase 1C also covers a host of other critical employees, including public safety workers, those in the energy sector, legal services, housing construction, financial services, bank tellers, information technology workers and media companies.
Everyone is eligible to begin scheduling appointments for vaccines starting Tuesday, April 14. Wolf moved up the timetable to expand the rollout to the general public; the date had been April 19.
Providers say thousands of appointments are available for COVID-19 vaccines. Central Pennsylvania’s larger providers said they’re ready for the influx of newly eligible people seeking shots.
So far, more than 2.4 million state residents are fully vaccinated and 1.8 million have received their first shot of a two-dose vaccine, according to the Pennsylvania Health Department. The state data doesn’t include the city of Philadelphia, which is doing its own rollout.
In Philadelphia, more than 612,000 people have received at least one shot and nearly 400,000 are fully vaccinated, according to the city’s health department.
The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two doses for full vaccination. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one shot.
Statewide, 2,460 people are being treated in hospitals for COVID-19, an increase of more than 1,000 over the past four weeks. But the increase in hospitalizations has slowed a bit in recent days.
More than 1 million coronavirus cases have been reported in Pennsylvania and more than 25,000 deaths have been tied to COVID-19, according to the state health department.
Most of those who are infected suffer relatively mild symptoms and many don’t even get sick, health officials say. But doctors say the virus poses serious risks to everyone, particularly for seniors and those with chronic medical conditions.
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