State concerned about COVID rise in Mercer, Lawrence, other counties

Pennsylvania health officials are expressing concern about recent increases in the number of coronavirus cases in Mercer, Lawrence, and a dozen other counties.

The statewide percent-positivity went up to 4.7% from 4.4% last week. Counties with concerning percent-positivity include Beaver (8.7%), Armstrong (8.6%), Franklin (7.7%), Mercer (7.6%), Allegheny (6.6%),  Lawrence (6.2%), Chester (6.0%), Philadelphia (5.6%), Fayette (5.4%), York (5.4%), Dauphin (5.3%), Delaware (5.3%), Bedford (5.1%) and Greene (5.1%).

State officials say they will continue to monitor each of these counties.

As of Thursday, July 23, the state has seen a seven-day case increase of 5,912, the previous seven-day increase was 5,579, alerting that cases are continuing to rise throughout the state.

“We need to recommit to the simple measures of mask-wearing and social distancing to stop the spread and go back to more freedoms,” said Gov. Tom Wolf.

The information comes from the COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard comparing the seven-day period of July 17 – July 23 to the previous seven days, July 10 – July 16.

To date, Mercer County has 254 confirmed coronavirus cases, 35 probable cases, and nine deaths.

The state reports 11 deaths in Lawrence County, 237 confirmed cases, and 35 probable cases.

The dashboard is designed to provide early warning signs of factors that affect the state’s mitigation efforts. The data available on the dashboard includes week-over-week case differences, incidence rates, test percent-positivity, and rates of hospitalizations, ventilation, and emergency room visits tied to COVID-19.

The Department of Health updated its travel recommendations, adding Missouri and Wyoming to the list of states recommended for domestic travelers returning from to quarantine for 14 days upon return to Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania health officials say a significant number of recent cases have been linked to travel.