Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine discussed treatments for those who suffer from COVID-19 and the models used to determine a county’s move to the yellow phase during Wednesday’s update.
Levine noted that as of 12 a.m. Wednesday, Pennsylvania had 707 new cases, bringing the statewide total to 58,698 individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19. Of those cases, 4,066 positive cases have been in health care workers and 12,408 among residents of 543 long term care living facilities. Levine stated the statewide death total is at 3,943 lives lost, all adults.
Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Department of Health record indicates that there have been 244,171 negatives among those tested for COVID-19.
In McKean County, there have been eight cases of positive tests and one death, with 282 negatives among patients tested. Meanwhile, Elk County has reported six positive cases and one death from COVID-19, while they have recorded 224 negative tests for individuals. Cameron County has had two positive cases of COVID-19 and 81 negatives, with no deaths recorded, and Potter County has had four positive cases and 104 negative test results, with no deaths reported.
One main topic of Wednesday’s update was the arrival of a method of treatment for patients with COVID-19.
“Yesterday Pennsylvania received our first shipment of remdesivir from the federal government,” Levine said. “We have 1,200 doses of this medication to treat patients in hospitals who have COVID-19. As of this morning, 51 hospitals across Pennsylvania have received this medication. Those hospitals were selected based on their numbers of COVID-19 patients in a recent 7-day period and the severity of the illness in those patients.”
Levine explained that the supply of this medication is being managed by the federal government, who have assured Pennsylvania officials that the state will be receiving more of this medication on a weekly basis.
Levine explained that remdesivir is not a cure. Instead, the medication is given intravenously in a hospital and has been shown in recent clinical trials to shorten recovery time for some patients. The medication is given once a day with two possible courses of treatment; one regiment is six doses, a 5-day course, while the other is 11 doses for a 10-day course.
“The medication may decrease the amount of coronavirus in the body, which helps you to get better faster,” Levine said.
Another potential treatment, discussed during the question portion of the broadcast, was the use of plasma in treatment of COVID-19.
“Studies show that plasma, which is part of blood, the part of blood that contains white blood cells and other immune factors, from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 — after being processed by blood banks — can be used to treat severely ill patients with COVID-19. Those type of plasma transfusions is part of our arsenal — our toolbox — to treat COVID-19,” Levine said.
Other questions focused on the movement of counties from the red phase to the yellow phase. Levine reminded residents of those counties in the yellow phase to continue to practice social distancing and wear a mask when out in public.
When asked about other counties moving to yellow status, Levine stated that the decision is based on several factors.
She stated that officials will be looking at data over the next two days; metrics, data reports, and models from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, Children’s Hospital Philadelphia data lab, as well as a new model from Wharton, one from the Business School at Penn and the model from the University of Washington, which is used frequently in Washington, D.C. Based on all of the information, officials will make recommendations to the governor and the governor will make his decision.
Levine also noted that criteria for counties to move to green status have not yet been determined. However, she stated that the hope is for Pennsylvania’s schools to return as normal in the fall, with any necessary precautions in place for safety.
“Our goal is that the schools will be open in the fall,” Levine said. “We have to look at models and make sure that is safe to do.”
Another topic touched on during the questions portion of the update concerned the number of people in Pennsylvania who have recovered from COVID-19.
Levine explained that, “it isn’t possible for us to contact all of those patients, but we are researching that. We are reaching out to other states to see how they have calculated that data. We are going to work to have some estimate of that, hopefully by the end of next week.”
