COVID-19 positive test results still trending upward in Pennsylvania
Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Department of Health
Pennsylvania Commonwealth microbiologist Kerry Pollard performs a manual extraction of the coronavirus inside the extraction lab at the Pennsylvania Department of Health Bureau of Laboratories in this file photo from 2020.
State health Secretary Rachel Levine speaks during a May news conference.
The number of new COVID-19 cases was continuing Friday to trend upward in every county and region of Pennsylvania, the state’s health secretary said.
Health Secretary Rachel Levine said the percentage of positive tests also was still too high in the state and especially in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
“Unfortunately right now the direction is going in the opposite direction,” Levine said during a livestream of her appearance with Gov. Tom Wolf at Lancaster Health Center.
Pennsylvania added 1,212 new cases of the novel coronavirus Friday to its total that stood at 105,571 since test results started coming in March 6. The statewide death toll from the virus was 7,101 Friday after 22 new deaths were reported.
Washington County added two dozen new cases to its total that increased to 637. Greene County’s case count increased by one to 94, and Fayette County added seven new cases to its total of 301.
Allegheny County reported 198 new cases to its total of 7,015, and two new deaths. The deaths were of a 54-year-old and 89-year-old, whose dates of death were July 11 and 22, respectively.
Levine said 5.7% of the tests statewide were returning positive, and that the percentage rate needed to fall below 5%.
Southwestern Pennsylvania led the state with a percent positive rate of 6.9%.
She said there was no date set for allowing bars to reopen and lifting reduced occupancy rates at restaurants.