Levine plans no new Pennsylvania restrictions as covid cases continue to rise

Covid-19 cases continue to rise along with the percentage of people who are testing positive for the virus, but Pennsylvania’s top health official said Monday there are no plans to put harsher restrictions in place again.

“We have no plans to go back to red-yellow-green or any type of scheme such as that,” said Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania’s secretary of health.

The state recorded 4,476 new cases on Monday and 5,199 on Sunday. Allegheny County saw a two-day increase of more than 1,000 cases: 500 on Monday and 527 on Sunday. Over the past two days, Westmoreland County added 354 new covid-19 cases, according to the state.

Levine said businesses should focus on enforcing the restrictions that are still in place, such as limiting their capacity to 50% and requiring customers to wear masks and stay physically distant.

She said there are no plans to shut down schools again as was done in the spring. She said district administrators can choose to shut down and move to virtual learning if that’s what they feel is best.

It’s happening locally and across the state: North Alle­gheny, Allegheny County’s second largest school district, will move to online learning Thursday through the end of the month, and the board of health in Montgomery County in Eastern Pennsylvania ordered all school buildings shut down for two weeks.

Philadelphia on Monday banned indoor dining and indoor gatherings of any size “involving people from more than one household,” public or private. The mitigation efforts go into effect Friday and also shut down gyms, casinos, museums, libraries, colleges and high schools.

City officials said dramatic action is needed to respond to an exponential growth in cases and hospitalizations.

“Local communities can make their own decisions,” Levine said. “We’re looking at things statewide.”

As of Monday, 2,440 covid-19 patients were hospitalized across the state, with 531 in intensive care units and 258 on a ventilator, Levine said. That means nearly 650 more people have been hospitalized in the past seven days.

Most covid-related figures in the state have gone up in the past week: the percent positivity rate jumped from 6.8% statewide to 9.6% as of Monday, and 62 of the state’s 67 counties have rates higher than 5%.

Two figures have decreased, Levine said, including the number of people who are considered recovered from the virus, defined as 30 days having passed since the onset of symptoms or their positive test. Of the 269,613 Pennsylvanians who have tested positive, 68% are considered recovered. A week ago, that number was 73%.

The drop, Levine said, is caused by the high numbers of new cases in recent weeks.

Fewer and fewer people who test positive for the virus are fully cooperating with case investigators and contact tracers, Levine said. Of the 20,985 confirmed cases between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7, just 16% — roughly 3,330 – gave answers as to whether they had been to a business or gathering in the two weeks prior to showing symptoms.

Of those who did provide an answer, 615 said they had been to a mass gathering in the past two weeks, and 535 said they had been to a business.

A breakdown by business:

• 53%, or 284 people, said they’d been to a restaurant.

• 12.5%, or 67 people, said they’d been to a bar.

• 11%, or 60 people, said they went to a gym or fitness center.

• 7%, or 39 people, reported going to a salon or barbershop.

• 26%, or 140, people said they had gone to some other type of business.