Rise in COVID-19 cases raises concerns in Gov. Wolf administration
Gov. Tom Wolf issued a concern Thursday about a recent rise in daily COVID-19 cases, saying they could be traced to colleges and universities.
The state Health Department announced 1,376 new cases of the virus that day, marking one of several recent days when the numbers were in four digits.
“I am very concerned,” Wolf said during a news conference that was streamed live from York.
“Pennsylvania has a lot of colleges and universities,” Wolf said, referring to them as possible “hot spots.”
He said his administration has been meeting daily to discuss the case counts.
He said Pennsylvania is in a better position now than when the pandemic arrived in March and the state faced shortages of personal protective equipment and feared the disease would stress health-care systems.
“We have more capacity than ever before,” Wolf said. “We’re at a different place as to how we address it.”
The virus has killed 8,299 Pennsylvanians this year after 27 new deaths were reported statewide Thursday. There were no new deaths reported that day in Washington, Greene, Fayette and Allegheny counties.
Allegheny County reported 127 new cases, with residents between the ages of 19 and 49 making up nearly half of them.
Washington County added 15 new cases, taking its total to 1,484. Greene and Fayette each recorded one new case, taking their totals to 198 and 850, respectively.