Coronavirus in Pa.: 84,370 cases, 6,579 deaths reported as of June 26

On a day when nearly every county in Pennsylvania is now in the green phase, the state reported a relatively low number of new coronavirus cases.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 600 new coronavirus cases Friday, raising the statewide total to 84,370.

Across Pennsylvania, 6,579 deaths have been tied to COVID-19, including 22 new fatalities reported Friday. More than two-thirds of the state’s deaths have occurred in long-term care facilities, including nursing homes. The health department released new data Friday morning; the figures reflect cases and deaths reported as of midnight.

The number of new cases is the highest in two weeks but remains well below the peak days in the spring, when the state regularly reported more than 1,000 new cases in a day. The one-day peak of 1,989 new cases was reported on April 9. There are 634,711 people who have tested negative.

Fewer people are being treated for the coronavirus in hospitals. The health department reported 677 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals, down from about 700 on Thursday. The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals is about a quarter of the peak in the spring.

Earlier Friday, Gov. Tom Wolf moved 12 new counties - including the Philadelphia region - to the green phase of his color-coded plan to reopen Pennsylvania. These counties have now been given state approval to enter the green phase: Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Erie, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia and Susquehanna.

Philadelphia will actually wait another week before moving to the green phase; city officials have said they want to keep some restrictions in place until July 3.

The last county will go green

As of Friday, only one of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties remains in the yellow phase: Lebanon County. Wolf announced Friday Lebanon County can move to the green phase on July 3.

Last week, the Wolf administration cited an uptick in cases for keeping Lebanon County in the yellow phase. The administration faulted Lebanon County officials for allowing businesses to open ahead of the state’s guidelines.

Speaking at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Wednesday, Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said a “combination of community spread” and cases in long-term care facilities are responsible for the recent high rate of increase in Lebanon County.

“When the numbers have shown that the number of new cases have decreased, they’ll be able to go green” she said.

Lebanon County lawmakers and businesses denounced the Wolf administration for not moving the county to the green phase.

Earlier this week, Karen Groh, president and CEO of the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce, said very few local businesses chose to reopen against the Wolf administration’s orders. In a letter to the Wolf administration, Groh wrote it was a “tremendous disappointment” when the governor kept the county in the yellow phase.

“The impact of continued closures for these businesses may prevent recovery for many,” the chamber said.

Nursing homes

Statewide, 4,518 coronavirus deaths have occurred in nursing homes and personal care homes, according to the health department. That represents 68 percent of the state’s COVID-19 deaths.

There are 17,527 residents of long-term care facilities who have contracted the virus, along with 3,162 employees. A total of 20,689 people have been infected in long-term care facilities.

Cases have been found at 678 long-term care facilities in 51 counties.

Across Pennsylvania, 6,395 health care workers have been infected.

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