COVID-19 Update: Monday, June 15

Coronavirus update for Monday, June 15 as of 4:30 p.m.

A Note About SNAP’s COVID-19 Updates

Beginning the week of June 15, SNAP will prepare COVID-19 updates on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with additional updates as needed on subjects that are especially timely or important. SNAP members and update subscribers will continue to receive their updates near the close of the business day and those updates will continue to be posted in this space the following morning.

Pennsylvania Update

The Wolf Administration

Governor Wolf announced today that beginning Wednesday, June 17, nine more COVID-19 drive-thru testing sites will open in Walmart parking lots across the state, and another testing site has also been added in Venango County, which previously had only one site, bringing the total of new testing sites to 10.

Department of Health

The Department of Health announced a partnership with General Healthcare Resources to assist with the COVID-19 response. General Healthcare Resources will be deploying on-site assessment teams to assist with infection control practices, staffing, and PPE training needs. It also will assist with specimen collection and urgent staffing needs. The department will be funding 41 individuals who will be deployed for one year.

The Department of Health clarified that for the purpose of the universal testing ordered by the Secretary last week it intends “staff” to include those who do not provide direct care. It advised hospitals to follow the definition of health care personnel provided in PA-HAN-509, which includes but is not limited to emergency medical service personnel, nurses, nursing assistants, physicians, technicians, therapists, phlebotomists, pharmacists, students and trainees, other staff providing direct care, contractual staff not employed by the facility, and persons not directly involved in patient care but who could be exposed to infectious agents that can be transmitted in the health care setting (e.g., clerical, dietary, environmental services, laundry, security, engineering and facilities management, administrative, billing and volunteer personnel).

Department of Health – by the numbers

Case counts and death totals remain generally down. Saturday’s total of just four deaths was the lowest in more than two months.
Nearly 20,000 residents and employees of 642 long-term-care facilities in 47 counties have contracted COVID-19.
842 Pennsylvanians are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, with 169 of them on ventilators.

Department of State