The number of coronavirus cases across Pennsylvania jumped by 20% to 8,420 on Friday, and Gov. Tom Wolf asked all residents to wear masks when they go outside.
The Lehigh Valley accounted for 1,050 cases of the overall total, according to data released by the state Department of Health. That number increased by 193 from Thursday, for a one-day increase of about 23%. And the number of cases in Monroe County increased by 76, or about 24%, to 397.
Pennsylvania reported 1,404 new cases Friday. Twelve more deaths were reported statewide, bringing the overall total to 102.
Four weeks after the first cases of the virus were identified in the state, Wolf said, “We are adding more than 1,000 a day to our tallies, and we know we have community spread occurring in many different areas. The only way we can cut the growth of this virus is to act as if we all have it.”
That, he said, meant wearing masks.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s situation was mentioned late Friday as a focus of concern ? along with Colorado and the District of Columbia ? during a televised briefing by Dr. Deborah Birx, U.S. special representative for global health diplomacy and a member of the national Coronavirus Task Force.
Birx said national authorities were watching the surge in cases in the three places and would be monitoring closely the “curve” of rising case totals.
The mask-wearing recommendation in Pennsylvania came on the same day as one was made by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health officials have said covering the mouth and nose can stop the spread of at least some of the airborne droplets that spread the virus.
Wolf and Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine encouraged residents to wear either a homemade cloth mask or a bandanna or even a scarf, and save N95 and surgical masks for first responders and health care workers.
The pandemic continued to wreak havoc worldwide. According to a Johns Hopkins University website, there were more than a million infections and 55,000 deaths by midday Friday.
In the U.S., there were more than 250,000 cases and more than 6,600 people who have died.
Wolf said consulting statistical models to see when the outbreak might peak in Pennsylvania was helpful, but the most important thing was for Pennsylvanians to stay away from each other.
If they don’t do that in sufficient fashion, he said, “we are going to overwhelm the health care system and the peak, whenever it comes, is going to be just awful.”
Meanwhile, two veteran state lawmakers spoke in ominous terms of the effects of the coronavirus crisis on the state budget.
State Sen. Pat Browne, a Lehigh County Republican, compared the financial effects of the crisis to a “thousand-year flood” and state Sen. Judy Schwank, a Berks County Democrat, said thinking of the strapped state finances gave her a sense of dread.
And as of Monday, both St. Luke’s University Health Network and Lehigh Valley Health Network have banned visitors from New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, states the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have considered high-risk for coronavirus infections.
Calculations using the state data issued Friday showed that Monroe County has the highest per capita infection rate in the state, followed by Lehigh and Northampton counties. Monroe’s rate of infection was 233.16 positive-test cases per 100,000 residents.
As of noon Friday, Bethlehem had 108 cases of the virus, the city’s Health Department reported.
Allentown reached 385 cases after 110 were added Friday. Three people have died in the city, a city spokesman said.
Wolf has ordered that residents across the state stay home except for life-sustaining activities, that all non-life-sustaining businesses close their physical operations and that public schools stay closed indefinitely.
The counties with the largest numbers of coronavirus cases as of Friday were Philadelphia with 2,284; Montgomery, 875; Lehigh, 584; Delaware, 542; Luzerne, 484; Allegheny, 476; Northampton, 466; Bucks, 446; Monroe, 397; and Lancaster, 232.
Meanwhile, the state Department of Human Services said in a written statement it launched a statewide Support & Referral Helpline that will be available 24/7 “to counsel Pennsylvanians struggling with anxiety and other challenging emotions due to the COVID-19 emergency.”
The phone number is 855-284-2494.
“Physical isolation does not mean social isolation,” the statement said. “We must support people where they are during this time of crisis.”
In other developments related to the coronavirus crisis:
Wolf asked religious leaders to plan observations of upcoming holidays like Easter and Passover in ways that would comply with guidance on avoiding virus spread, like streaming services online. He told of how some churches have hosted services in parking lots with congregants staying inside their cars.
Among the 12 newly reported deaths on Friday, Delaware, Bucks and Montgomery counties had two each, while Northampton, Lackawanna, Philadelphia, Cumberland, Lancaster and Perry counties had one each.
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Morning Call staffers Manuel Gamiz Jr., Eugene Tauber and Andrew Wagaman contributed to this report. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
Morning Call reporter Ford Turner can be reached at 717-783-7305 or fturner@mcall.com.
