People have been finding creative ways to celebrate milestones in the lives of loved ones, but on Friday, one state official said a popular event is not permissible under the stay-at-home order for the entire state.
During her daily update conference, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said the popular parades of vehicles past homes of someone celebrating a birthday or anniversary are really not allowed.
“The mitigation efforts are absolutely critical to continuing to ‘bend the curve’ and prevent our health system from being overwhelmed,” Levine said. When COVID-19 first started to spread, the growth rate was exponential. Now, with weeks of mitigation efforts across the state, the growth rate is lower.
She discouraged people from continuing events like parades, adding, “We think Pennsylvanians will do the right thing. And the right thing is to stay home.”
Levine said taking a drive isn’t permissible, either.
“It is important to stay home. We wouldn’t consider a drive to some place essential travel. Maybe on the way there, the person needs to get gas, or go to the bathroom or get something to eat.” Then they would be in contact with others and potentially spread the highly contagious virus.
These are activities that are subject to enforcement by police under the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the number of positive cases reported for the region remains low — one each in McKean and Cameron counties, two in Elk County and three in Potter County — Levine acknowledged that the lower numbers may be that cases just haven’t been diagnosed.
“We know there is widespread community transmission,” she said. “We are really only able to test those who are symptomatic.”
She declined to release numbers of how many people have been tested in each county.
“We know the true caseload of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania is much higher,” Levine said. “We do usually expect less transmission in rural areas because of population density. But rural areas aren’t off the hook.”
She added that a spike in cases here would be just as deadly as it has been elsewhere in the world.
As of Friday, there were 1,751 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 19,979. All 67 counties in Pennsylvania now have cases of COVID-19. The health department also reported 78 new deaths among positive cases, bringing the statewide total to 416. All people are either in isolation at home or being treated at the hospital.
Levine said the rise in deaths over the past several days is likely from people who have been fighting COVID-19 for some time.
“I think we are seeing an increase of the number of deaths (in patients) who have been battling this for awhile and have tragically succumbed,” she said.
Levine also fielded questions on an expected surge in cases.
“There isn’t going to be one peak and it isn’t going to be the same for every region,” she said. The model from the University of Washington forecasts a peak in the next week, but Levine said again that the virus determines the timeline, not the people.
“We’re going to be watching all our statistics over the next few weeks,” she said.
