45 PA Counties In Red Zone: White House Coronavirus Task Force

PENNSYLVANIA — Forty-five of Pennsylvania's 67 counties are in the red zone when it comes to the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak, the White House Coronavirus Task Force said in a recent report. Red zones have more than 100 new cases per 100,000 residents and a diagnostic test positivity result of above 10 percent.

The reports, while not made public by the task force, have been obtained by The Center for Public Integrity. The most recent report made available is dated Nov. 22.

Overall, Pennsylvania is classified in the red zone for both COVID-19 cases and positivity and has since the Nov. 1 report. However, the number of counties experiencing severe outbreaks increased rapidly as the month progressed.

The latest report shows just how sharply the pandemic escalated in November. In the Nov. 8 report, there were nine counties classified in the red zone. Two weeks later, that number increased by 36 counties to 45.

In late September, one county was classified by the task force as being in the red zone.

According to the Nov. 22 report, the following counties are classified in the red zone:

  • Armstrong

  • Beaver

  • Bedford

  • Berks

  • Blair

  • Bradford

  • Bucks

  • Cambria

  • Carbon

  • Clarion

  • Clearfield

  • Clinton

  • Crawford

  • Cumberland

  • Dauphin

  • Delaware

  • Erie

  • Huntingdon

  • Indiana

  • Fayette

  • Franklin

  • Fulton

  • Greene

  • Jefferson

  • Juniata

  • Lancaster

  • Lawrence

  • Lebanon

  • Lehigh

  • Luzerne

  • Lycoming

  • McKean

  • Mercer

  • Mifflin

  • Perry

  • Philadelphia

  • Potter

  • Schuylkill

  • Somerset

  • Tioga

  • Warren

  • Washington

  • Westmoreland

  • Wyoming

  • York

Nine counties are listed in the orange zone in the Nov. 22 report. Those include Allegheny, Montgomery, Chester, Northampton, Butler, Monroe, Snyder, Columbia and Elk. Counties in the organize zone reported between 51 and 100 new cases per 100,000 residents and a diagnostic test positivity result between 8 and 10 percent.

Pennsylvania currently has a statewide positivity rate of 11.7 percent, which is the 26th highest positivity rate in the country, according to the Nov. 22 task force report.

The report also notes that during the week of Nov. 9 - 15, at least 20 percent of Pennsylvania nursing homes had at least one new resident case and 44 percent had at least one new staff case.

As a result of the accelerating outbreak, the report offers several recommendations to help slow the pandemic's continuing onslaught.

Here are some of the highlights, you can view the full recommendations here (on page 305 of the report):

  • Preventing spread during holidays: "All media platforms should be saturated with public health messages on the risks of social gatherings." It is also recommended that clinical personnel be recruited to convey messages on the importance of following public health measures like not gathering and wearing face coverings.

  • Expand testing: The task force notes that a statewide test positivity rate above 10 percent indicates that the level of testing is inadequate and should be increased. Gov. Wolf announced a plan Tuesday that would add testing sites in the state. Quantitative wastewater surveillance should be "scaled up," the task force recommends, and all institutes of higher education should be testing students before they return home for the holidays.

  • Contingency plans: All clinical facilities across Pennsylvania should have expansion and contingency plans in place, as well as up-to-date treatment protocols.

  • Flu shots: The task force recommends "aggressive flu vaccine campaigns" in all counties.

  • In-person gatherings: All organizations meeting in person, including religious and community organizations, should be made aware of the risks of meeting in person. "Strict" compliance with state guidelines on gatherings should be enforced.

  • School policies: The task force says the state should "monitor and ensure strict adherence to CDC school policy guidance to curb transmissions, including the use of face coverings for all K-12 students and teachers."

The latest White House Coronavirus Task Force report for Pennsylvania comes as cases continue to explode throughout the state.

Pennsylvania on Tuesday added 5,676 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to 367,140. As of Tuesday, there were 4,631 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. Of that number, 970 patients are in the intensive care unit.

The trend in the 14-day moving average of number of hospitalized patients per day has increased by nearly 3,200 since the end of September. There were 180 new deaths reported Tuesday, bringing the state's coronavirus death toll to 10,563.

As a result, Gov. Tom Wolf last week announced some additional mitigation measures.

This article originally appeared on the Across Pennsylvania Patch