By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa
The most recent new case and testing numbers for COVID-19 from Chester County Health show a continued, gradual overall down trend line as of May 8.
Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday that 13 more counties will move from “Red” to “Yellow” next Friday, as the first 34 counties to make that move opened up today, while extending the Stay At Home orders for the remaining “Red” counties, including Chester, through June 4 — although any county upgraded before then would not be subject to the order.
This means more than half of the state’s 67 counties will no longer be under a Stay At Home order to fight COVID-19. The statewide order had been in place since April 1. Chester County has been under such an order since March 23.
Wolf announced 13 Pennsylvania counties will move to the yellow phase of reopening at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, May 15. Those counties include Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland.
“The reopening plan prioritizes the health and welfare of Pennsylvanians by using a combination of factors to gauge how much movement a location can tolerate before the 2019 novel coronavirus becomes a threat,” Gov. Wolf said. “I’d like to emphasize that this plan is not a one-way route. We are closely monitoring the 24 counties in the yellow phase and will re-impose restrictions if danger arises.”
Wolf said he wanted to remind residents and business owners that yellow means caution and that everyone needs to continue to be mindful of their actions and how they affect not only themselves, but their families, friends and community.
“Every contact between two people is a new link in the chain of potential transmission,” Wolf said. “And if the new case count begins to climb in one area, restrictions will need to be imposed to prevent local medical facilities from becoming overwhelmed. So, Pennsylvanians should continue to make good choices.”
As an indication that Pennsylvania continues to struggle in battling COVID-19, the state Department of Health (DOH) announced 1,323 new cases in the state on Thursday, a bit of a spike, bringing the statewide total of cases to 54,238. Additional tracking of fatalities found 200 more deaths than previously known over the last few weeks, bringing the state’s total to 3,616.
In Chester County, the recent pattern continued of a few days of declining numbers, followed by a spike. But since April 29, when new cases peaked at 79, those spikes have been progressively lower. Thursday, which appeared to be a new spike, saw 54 new cases for a total of 1,770. The county began antibody testing of first responders and healthcare workers — on an appointment basis — Friday at two sites in the county.
