Pa. officials don’t plan to bring back lockdowns
By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
Although COVID-19 cases continue to rise, the state has no plans to put harsher restrictions back in place, leaving local officials, school districts and businesses to determine their own mitigation efforts.
Those choices are already being made locally.
On Monday, Monongahela Valley Hospital in Carroll Township announced the suspension of visiting hours for patients starting today because of an influx of cases across the region.
More than 15,000 new coronavirus cases have been recorded in Pennsylvania since Saturday. Monday saw a jump of 4,476 new cases. There were 5,199 reported Sunday and 5,551 Saturday.
Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said despite the concern surrounding the surge in cases, there are no plans to shut down the state.
Most covid-related figures in the state have gone up in the past week. The positivity rate jumped from 6.8% to 9.6% statewide as of Monday.
Two figures have decreased, Levine said, including the number of people who are considered recovered from the virus, defined as 30 days having passed since the onset of symptoms or their positive test. Of the 269,613 Pennsylvanians who have tested positive, 68% are considered recovered, a drop of 5% from last week.
The drop, Levine said, is caused by the high numbers of new cases in recent weeks.
The percentage of positive cases cooperating with contract tracing efforts is also low, Levine added.
Of the 20,985 confirmed cases between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7, only 16% gave answers as to whether they’d been to a business or gathering in the two weeks prior to showing symptoms. Still, Levine and Gov. Tom Wolf are focusing on mitigation efforts at the state level and enforcing orders already in place.
“We have no plans to go back to red-yellow-green or any type of scheme such as that,” Levine said. “Local communities can make their own decisions. We’re looking at things statewide.”
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