The following is the latest coronavirus information from Pennsylvania’s state government as of 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 18.
Wolf Administration
The Wolf Administration has awarded $50 million in hazard pay grants for front-line workers in life-sustaining industries. The program, funded through CARES Act money appropriated to the Department of Community and Economic Development, was announced in mid-July in an effort to keep front-line workers working across the commonwealth. Click here to read the full press release and here to view a list of grant recipients.
Department of Health 
- The Secretary of the Department of Health has ordered all skilled nursing facilities, personal care homes, assisted living residences, and private intermediate care facilities to develop, implement, and adhere to policies and procedures that provide for the procurement and distribution of personal protective equipment to all staff by August 27, 2020. The policies and procedures must at a minimum include distribution of respirators to staff providing direct patient care to COVID-19 positive and suspected cases and staff assigned to provide direct patient care in COVID-19 units. The respirators distributed by each facility must be National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-approved or FDA-approved. Respirator distribution must occur prior to the beginning of the staff member’s shift and the respirator must be replaced as soon as practical if the facility is notified by a staff member that a mask has become soiled, damaged, or otherwise ineffective.
- The administration provided an update on its efforts to improve and expand COVID-19 contact tracing efforts through the Department of Health.
Department of Health – by the numbers
- The number of new COVID-19 cases has remained relatively steady for the past two weeks: fewer than late July and more like the beginning of last month.
- The department continues to report that the number of cases among people between the ages of 19 and 24 exceeds those among people between the ages of 50 and 64 and those 65 years of age and older. The number of cases among those between 19 and 24 is rising in every part of the state.
- More than 8,997 health care workers in the state have contracted COVID-19.
- The number of COVID-19-caused deaths in Pennsylvania is nearing 7,500.
- The number of long-term-care facility residents and staff who have contracted COVID-19 now exceeds 24,700. These cases have occurred in 899 such facilities in 61 of the state’s 67 counties.
Department of Human Services
The Department of Human Services has temporarily suspended certain regulatory requirements for the continued and uninterrupted delivery of behavioral health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Go here for a complete list of the regulatory suspensions issued by the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to date.
Resources to Consult
Pennsylvania Department of Human Services
Pennsylvania Department of Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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