Your coronavirus update: Pennsylvania jobless claims exceed 1 million since outbreak

• Marc Levy/The Associated Press
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Covering Pennsylvania politics, government & scandals for @AP. The wicked flee when none pursueth. @Colorado native. As honest as a Denver man can be.

Unemployment compensation claims have vaulted Pennsylvania past 1 million since the coronavirus began taking a severe toll on the economy in mid-March, as the state Department of Health on Monday reported more cases and more virus-related deaths.

The state exceeded 283,000 jobless claims last week, pushing Pennsylvania past 1 million in the three weeks since the state began pressing for business shutdowns to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

New coronavirus cases and deaths reported Monday by the state Department of Health did not set a new high in either category.

Also Monday, lawmakers were scheduled to convene in Harrisburg, as top Republicans in the House of Representatives press legislation to force Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration to allow construction activity and retail operations to continue unabated during the coronavirus crisis.

However, top Democrats oppose such efforts, saying that it is more important to clamp down on the spread of the coronavirus and to try to avoid exposing workers to the virus.

Wolf’s administration has called for all “non-life-sustaining” businesses to close indefinitely while the state tries to contain the virus, and it suggested that now is not the time to stray from that course.

Wolf also has ordered schools closed indefinitely, and ordered residents to stay at home, except for necessary trips to a business that is still open, going to the grocery store or pharmacy, visiting a doctor, caring for a relative or heading outside to exercise.

Monday’s coronavirus-related developments in Pennsylvania:

Cases

The state Department of Health reported 1,470 more coronavirus cases confirmed on Sunday, bringing the statewide total to 12,980 in 65 of 67 counties. The department also reported 12 more deaths, for a statewide total of 162. Three of those newly reported deaths were in Lancaster County, which has the highest death total in the midstate.

A total 1,483 cases and 20 deaths have been reported in central Pennsylvania counties: Adams (25); Berks (326, including 3 deaths); Columbia (26); Cumberland (68, including 2 deaths); Dauphin (132, including 1 death); Franklin (32); Juniata (11); Lancaster (408, including 11 deaths); Lebanon (124); Mifflin (5); Northumberland (15); Perry (5, including 1 death); Schuylkill (103); Snyder (8, including 1 death); Union (6) and York (189, including 1 death).

More than 70,000 people have tested negative.

Officials say most hospitalizations and deaths have occurred in patients aged 65 or older. There have been no pediatric deaths to date, officials said.

For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in a couple of weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems are at higher risk of more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.

Jobless claims

From March 16 through Sunday, more than 1.1 million Pennsylvanians filed for unemployment benefits. That’s about one-sixth of the nearly 6.6 million people that Pennsylvania reported being in the civilian labor force in February.

Unemployment compensation claims in Pennsylvania peaked at almost 406,000 in the week ending March 28, an all-time high in the state. That figure was second in the nation to California.

About 4,550 employees of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board will join another roughly 9,000 state employees who are going on unpaid leave after Friday, an agency spokeswoman said.

The employees keep their health insurance and have the option to use sick leave and vacation days, or file for unemployment benefits.

Building-cleaning rules

Pennsylvania’s health secretary issued new standards Sunday for cleaning large buildings that remain open during the COVID-19 shutdown.

Dr. Rachel Levine’s order, which applies to buildings that are at least 50,000 square feet, requires building owners to maintain usual cleaning and follow U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to routinely clean and disinfect areas that are often touched.

The types of buildings covered by Levine’s order include warehouses, factories, offices, airports, grocery stores, government facilities, hotels, colleges and universities and residential buildings that have 50 units or more.

Building owners also must make sure there are enough workers to perform the cleaning properly and, if they have security, that they are sufficient to control access, keep order and enforce social distancing. The order takes effect early Monday.