The following is the latest COVID-19 information from Pennsylvania’s state government as of 3:30 p.m. on Friday, April 30.
Department of Health
- The Department of Health updated its guidance for long-term-care facilities on how to respond to new suspected, probable, or confirmed COVID-19 cases in staff and residents.
- The Department of Health issued guidance on core infection prevention and control measures for long-term-care facilities as a supplement to guidance for all health care facilities issued in PA-HAN-563 on April 9.
- The Department of Health updated its guidance on work restrictions for health care workers with exposure to COVID-19.
Department of Health – by the numbers
- The daily number of new COVID-19 cases, while still very high, fell earlier in the week but today’s count was the highest in more than a week.
- The number of COVID-19 deaths, which had been declining even amid rising case counts, has risen slightly over the past two weeks.
- For the week from April 16 through April 22 the state’s overall COVID-19 test positivity rate was 8.6 percent, down from 9.6 percent last week and ending a three-week run of increases.
- More than 3.4 million Pennsylvanians have now been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard. Another nearly 512,000 people are now fully vaccinated in Philadelphia, that city’s Department of Public Health reports.
Department of Human Services
DHS has issued a reminder to providers that it increased the Medicaid fee for administering COVID-19 vaccines to $40 effective March 15. See DHS’s latest announcement here and its most recently updated fee schedule for administering COVID-19 vaccines here.
DHS has published a Medical Assistance Bulletin informing providers that effective July 1, 2021 it will reinstate the prior authorization requirements that were in place on February 29, 2020 and suspended in Provider Quick Tip #241 in the Medical Assistance fee-for-service delivery system for all services with the exception of shift care services provided to children under the age of 21. Provider Quick Tip #241 was issued in response to the COVID-19 emergency.
Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council
PHC4 has released COVID-19 hospitalization data for the seven-month period from March 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020. Learn more from PHC4’s news release and from the various data elements PHC4 has produced.
Around the State
- Lancaster’s county commissioners have voted to lift their county’s COVID-19 emergency declaration, WGAL reports.
- FEMA says that demand for COVID-19 vaccines at its two Philadelphia sites is declining, according to KYW radio.
- Five Bucks County clinics are now offering COVID-19 vaccines to walk-in patients. Bucks Local News tells the story.
- Rite Aid is now offering vaccines without appointments at all of its locations, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.