The following is the latest COVID-19 information from Pennsylvania’s state government as of 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 12.

The Wolf Administration

The Wolf administration has announced that event and gathering maximum occupancy limits will be raised for indoor and outdoor events and gatherings as of Monday, May 17.  Mask requirements remain in effect, consistent with recent federal CDC guidelines, and the new state limits do not preclude municipalities, school districts, and venue operators from imposing stricter mitigation requirements.  Learn more from this Wolf administration news release.

Department of Health

Pennsylvania has shifted to the federal vaccine locator site, vaccines.gov, as the primary web site to which it is now directing people who are looking for a place to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.  On the site, individuals enter their zip code, the distance they are interested in traveling to receive a vaccine, and, if they wish, they can specify which vaccine they want.  The site’s search function then generates a list of vaccine outlets beginning with those closest to the zip code.  See the Department of Health announcement of this transition and go here to view the federal vaccine locator site.

The Department of Health has issued updated guidance for long-term-care facilities on how to respond to an outbreak of COVID-19 or when residents have been exposed to COVID-19.  The updated guidance includes a new decision-support tool to assist with decision-making in response to outbreaks and also offers clarification about visitation during outbreaks.  Find the updated guidance here.

Department of Health – by the numbers

  • The daily number of new COVID-19 cases has fallen over the past week.
  • The number of COVID-19 deaths generally remains where it has been over the past three weeks.
  • For the week from April 30 through May 6, the state’s overall COVID-19 test positivity rate was 6.6 percent, down from 7.6 last week and 8.6 percent the week before.
  • Twelve counties had a positivity rate lower than five percent and no counties had a positivity rate greater than 20 percent, the third consecutive week for these levels.
  • Two counties are currently experiencing low levels of community transmission of COVID-19, one fewer than the past two weeks; 25 counties are experiencing moderate levels of community transmission, up from 20 last week and 11 two weeks ago; and 40 counties are currently experiencing substantial levels of community transmission, down from 44 counties last week and 53 the week before
  • The number of Pennsylvanians hospitalized with COVID-19 has fallen 22 percent since May 1; the number in hospital ICUs has fallen 18 percent since May 1; and the number on ventilators because of COVID-19 has fallen 13 percent since May 1.
  • On Thursday Pennsylvania will pass the four million mark for the number of people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.  Another 579,000 have been vaccinated in Philadelphia as of Monday, May 10.  Among those 579,000 are 53,000 non-Philadelphians, according to city figures.

Department of Human Services

DHS has issued an announcement that modifies October 2020 guidance and provides temporary closure guidance to older adult daily living centers, structured day programs, LIFE day centers, adult training facilities, and vocational facilities related to the community spread of COVID-19 or when more than one individual or staff member is diagnosed with COVID-19 and spent 15 minutes or more in the facility within a 24-hour period starting two days prior to symptom/illness onset, or for asymptomatic individuals, two days prior to the test specimen collection date, until the time the person is isolated.  This announcement also describes the process for reopening facilities using the Community Participation Support and Older Adult Facility Reopening Tool and provides guidance for mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in facilities.  For a list of the types of facilities and programs to which this guidance applies and to see the modified guidance itself, see DHS’s announcement.

U.S. Treasury Guidance to State and Local Governments

The Treasury Department posted an interim final rule, not yet published in the Federal Register, on Monday implementing the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund and the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund established under the American Rescue Plan Act.  The interim final rule addresses uses of the $350 billion from the American Rescue Plan, including for public health expenditures, addressing the negative effects of the public health emergency, replacing lost public-sector revenue, providing premium pay for essential workers, and more.  This guidance will be key to FY 2021-2022 budget deliberations and how the governor and General Assembly ultimately decide to allocate these funds.

Learn more from the following resources:

Around the State

  • Lancaster County providers are adjusting their communication strategies to improve their outreach to religious communities, such as the Amish and Mennonites, that may not use computers and cellphones and therefore may have limited access to information about the importance of COVID-19 vaccines and fewer tools for signing up for vaccines.  WITF tells the story.
  • Pennsylvania leads the country in the steepness of its decline in the number of new people receiving COVID-19 vaccines, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, elaborating that “In a Kaiser Family Foundation survey that found waning demand nationwide, Pennsylvania led the U.S. in the steepness of the decline; Kaiser set Pennsylvania’s drop-off in demand at 86.5% for the week ending April 29, steeper than any other state.”
  • The city of Philadelphia has announced its plans for relaxing COVID-19-related occupancy limits and other limits.  Some of the eased limits take effect on May 21 and others on June 21 and encompass restaurants, offices, retail stores, catered events, gyms and indoor pools, outdoor pools, indoor and outdoor gatherings, casinos, and more.  Indoor mask requirements will remain in effect.  See the city’s news release for more details.
  • Chester County has enlisted the services of EMS companies to help bring COVID-19 vaccinations to people who cannot get to vaccine providers.  The Daily Local News has the details.