3 new Pennsylvania coronavirus patients in hospitals, including 1 in critical condition

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Editor’s note: This story was updated to include three additional cases (the state’s eighth, ninth and tenth) that were disclosed at an afternoon press conference.

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(Harrisburg) — Four more people tested positive for the new coronavirus in Pennsylvania on Monday, state officials said, including three people who were hospitalized.

That brings the total number to 10, all adults.

One hospitalized person, a Montgomery County resident, is in critical condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, the hospital said. The department did not say which hospitals are caring for the other two patients.

The Department of Health hasn’t released many details about the people who have tested positive.

A look at the latest developments in the spread of the new coronavirus in Pennsylvania:

What we know

All 10 people who tested positive live in eastern Pennsylvania and all are believed to have contracted it by traveling outside the state or outside the country.

Seven are residents of Montgomery County. Others are residents of Monroe, Delaware and Wayne counties. Those who are not hospitalized are at home in isolation, officials said.

One infected person is a cardiologist working for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in King of Prussia, CEO Madeline Bell said in a Monday email to staff obtained by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The hospital suspended services at its King of Prussia specialty care site where the cardiologist practiced, as well as at adjacent allergy clinics, and is redirecting patients to the hospital’s main Philadelphia campus, the Inquirer reported.

The hospital is advising patient families and staff who may have come into contact with the doctor over the past week to self-quarantine at home.

Health Secretary Rachel Levine said the state isn’t recommending that large gatherings be canceled.

The illness

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.

What we don’t know

The Department of Health is giving few details about patients. It is not saying how many samples it is testing, how many negative tests it has taken or how many people it is monitoring under quarantine. It is also not saying where precisely someone traveled when they were exposed.

At least three medical personnel who treated people who tested positive have also been quarantined, newspapers have reported.

Testing

The state has a lab in Exton, in suburban Philadelphia, that can make use of new equipment to boost its capacity to test up to 150 people a day from up to 25 people a day. Private labs and academic medical centers are starting to administer tests or will start soon.

Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration said Monday that all major health insurers providing comprehensive medical coverage in the state will cover medically appropriate COVID-19 testing and treatment, including waiving cost-sharing for testing. Those insurers are Highmark, UPMC Health Plan, Geisinger, Independence Blue Cross, Capital Blue Cross, Aetna, Cigna, United Healthcare, Pennsylvania Health & Wellness and Oscar, it said.

Schools closing

Schools closing, canceling travel and field trips in suburban Philadelphia grew on Monday.

Cheltenham School District said it is closing its buildings this week because a student’s parent was a caregiver to someone who tested positive.

The Lower Merion School District in Montgomery County canceled classes Tuesday after being told that two students and a staff member may have been exposed to COVID-19 during visits to the Children’s Hospital facility in King of Prussia, the facility where the cardiologist works. Those students and the staff member are under quarantine for 14 days, it said.

Germantown Academy in Montgomery County is closing its campus through March 29, the end of spring break. The school said one person who tested positive is a family member of a student.