COVID-19 Update: Friday, July 10

The following is the latest information from Pennsylvania’s state government and the federal government as of 3:00 p.m. on Friday, July 10.

Governor Wolf

Governor Wolf has signed an executive order that protects homeowners and renters from evictions or foreclosure until August 31 if they have not received assistance from a new program administered by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency or are not already receiving relief through one of several federal foreclosure moratorium programs or judicial orders. While the first order of this kind in early May extended protections to businesses, it is unclear whether the provisions protecting businesses will be permitted to expire or whether they were also extended under this new order. See a news release explaining the administration’s actions here and find the executive order itself here.

Department of Health – by the numbers

The number of newly reported COVID-19 cases has been up sharply in the past week while the number of newly reported deaths remains mostly where it has been for the past month. Today the number of new cases rose above 1000 for the first time in about two months.
In a news release today the department noted that it “… is seeing significant increases in the number of COVID-19 cases among younger age groups, particularly 19 to 24-year-olds. An alert was sent to healthcare providers over the weekend about the changing COVID-19 case demographics, as there are more cases in younger age groups than in those 50-64 and 65+.”
To date, residents and staff of 737 long-term-care facilities in 55 counties have accounted for more than 21,500 cases of COVID-19 in the state, which amounts to 23 percent of the state’s overall cases.
Long-term-care facility residents now account for 68 percent of the 6880 COVID-19 deaths in the state.
More than 7000 health care workers have contracted COVID-19.
635 Pennsylvanians have tested positive on COVID-19 serology tests.
After more than a month of steadily declining numbers, the number of Pennsylvanians hospitalized with COVID-19 has now risen for four consecutive days.
Currently unoccupied are 36 percent of state hospitals’ acute-care beds, 40 percent of their ICU beds, 54 percent of their pediatric beds, 27 percent of their pediatric ICU beds, and 65 percent of their airborne isolation rooms.
To date, Pennsylvania has experienced 34 confirmed cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Another seven suspected cases of MIS-C were determined not to be that condition and another 17 possible cases are currently being investigated.

Department of Human Services

DHS has updated its interim guidance for certified child care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Department of State

The Department of State has authorized licensed pharmacists who are authorized to administer injectables to administer influenza immunizations by injectable or needle-free delivery methods to persons three years of age or older. This authority suspends the current minimum age for pharmacist-administered immunizations of nine years but only does so for influenza vaccinations and does not apply to COVID-19 vaccines. See the announcement of this policy and rationale here.