COVID-19 Update: Monday, July 20

The following is the latest information from Pennsylvania’s state government as of 4:00 p.m. on Monday, July 20.

Governor Wolf

Last week Governor Wolf announced new mitigation efforts to attempt to stem the rising numbers of new COVID-19 cases in the state. A new FAQ document on these targeted mitigation efforts is now available online.

Department of Health

The department updated its previous health alert on return-to-work criteria for health care personnel. Changes reflect new CDC guidance, including a move away from a test-based strategy to determine when to allow personnel to return to work.
Another updated health alert provides guidance for transmission-based precautions in health care facilities, to reflect the move away from a test-based strategy. A test-based strategy is no longer recommended except as noted in the alert because it can result in prolonged isolation of patients who continue to shed detectable COVID-19 RNA but are no longer infectious.

Department of Health – by the numbers

In the past three days Pennsylvania’s new case count has continued to be in the low to mid 700s. The new death count remains relatively modest.
On Monday Allegheny County reported 172 new cases.
7545 Pennsylvania health care workers have now contracted COVID-19.
Due to the increases in COVID-19 cases among younger age groups, the department sent an alert to health care providers about the changes to the case demographics. The following regions have seen significant increases among 19-24 year-olds in each month from April to July (to date):

Pennsylvania Regions	Percent of cases in 19-24-year olds in April 2020	Percent of cases in 19-24-year olds in July 2020 (to date)
Southwest	5%	21%
Southeast	5%	18%
Northeast	6%	17%
Northwest	7%	13%
North Central	8%	13%
South Central	7%	13%