A sign along Route 15 in Adams County is shown Tuesday, March 24, 2020, reinforcing state government messaging during the coronavirus pandemic.
Scott Blanchard / WITF
Updated: 2020-04-08 14:22:18
Your daily coronavirus update: Pennsylvania to seize medical supplies for COVID-19 fight
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Michael Rubinkam/Associated Press -
Marc Levy/The Associated Press -
Mark Scolforo/The Associated Press
Scott Blanchard / WITF
A sign along Route 15 in Adams County is shown Tuesday, March 24, 2020, reinforcing state government messaging during the coronavirus pandemic.
With our coronavirus coverage, our goal is to equip you with the information you need. Rather than chase every update, we’ll try to keep things in context and focus on helping you make decisions. See all of our stories here.
What you should know
» Coronavirus facts & FAQ
» Day-by-day look at coronavirus disease cases in Pa.
» What the governor’s stay-at-home order means
Pennsylvania emergency management officials will be permitted to commandeer N95 face masks, ventilators and other crucial medical equipment for use in the fight against COVID-19 under an order signed Wednesday by Gov. Tom Wolf.
The order mandates that private and public health care facilities, manufacturers and other companies tabulate their supplies of personal protective equipment, drugs and other medical equipment, and provide an inventory to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency within five days.
PEMA will make the supplies available to areas of the state hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, Wolf’s order said, and it will be up to state agencies to repay the entities from which the equipment was taken.
“Combatting a pandemic means we all have to work together and that means we need to make the best use of our medical assets to ensure the places that need them most have them,” Wolf said in a statement.
“Today, I am signing an order that will allow us to transfer supplies, and information between medical facilities to both high-population, high-impact areas and lower population areas that might not have as many existing medical resources,” he said.
Several other states, including New York and Minnesota, have issued similar orders.
In other coronavirus developments Wednesday:
Cases
The Department of Health reported 1,680 new confirmed cases of the virus, bringing the statewide total to more than 16,000. There were 70 new deaths, for a statewide toll of 310.
Since the first cases were reported in central Pennsylvania on March 13, a total of 1,977 people in the region have tested positive for the virus.
The first coronavirus-related deaths in this region were reported about two weeks later, on March 28. In the 11 days since, a total 32 central Pennsylvania residents have died from COVID-19 or related complications.
In Wednesday’s update, three new deaths were reported in Berks County, two in Lancaster County and one in Dauphin County. Here’s the full breakdown:
- Adams: 33 cases
- Berks: 416 cases, including 7 deaths
- Columbia: 54 cases, including 1 death
- Cumberland: 84 cases, including 2 deaths
- Dauphin: 168 cases, including 2 deaths
- Franklin: 43 cases
- Juniata: 18 cases
- Lancaster: 561 cases, including 16 deaths
- Lebanon: 169 cases
- Mifflin: 10 cases
- Northumberland: 22 cases
- Perry: 13 cases, including 1 death
- Schuylkill: 136 cases
- Snyder: 9 cases, including 1 death
- Union: 8 cases
- York: 233 cases, including 2 deaths
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.
Vacation rental owners defy orders
Short-term rental property owners in Pennsylvania continue to advertise lodging in defiance of Wolf’s coronavirus shutdown order, administration officials said Wednesday.
Wolf banned short-term residential rentals last week after state lawmakers in the Pocono Mountains complained that property owners had been trying to entice travelers from virus hotspots New Jersey and New York.
But owners are continuing to advertise availability using Airbnb, VRBO and other platforms, “unnecessarily putting the health of the public in even greater jeopardy than is already the case,” wrote Dennis M. Davin, secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development.
Davin wrote to Airbnb Inc. and Expedia Group, which owns VRBO, asking them to tell hosts who are violating the shutdown order that they are not allowed to operate.
Davin said the administration is seeking voluntary compliance but warned of “significant consequences” for short-term rental owners if they don’t stop advertising availability.
Airbnb has said its hosts may not reference “COVID-19,” “coronavirus” or “quarantine” in listing titles, advertise themselves as virus-free or encourage guests to ignore travel advisories. Expedia has offered similar guidance. Both platforms say violators can have their listings removed.
Airbnb said it has already informed hosts to check for local restrictions on short-term rentals.
“Airbnb is working with local governments in real time to both address these orders and ensure short-term rentals are an available resource for frontline responders and those sheltering in place during this crisis,” said Josh Meltzer, head of Northeast policy for Airbnb.
The Associated Press emailed Expedia seeking comment on the Wolf administration’s allegations.
Warehouse inspections
More than 20 local governments in hard-hit northeastern Pennsylvania are banding together to make sure the warehouse industry and other large businesses are following state health and safety orders amid an alarming rise in virus cases in the region.
Regional code enforcement teams in Luzerne County will perform random inspections of large commercial buildings that remain open during the COVID-19 shutdown, officials announced Wednesday. Luzerne County has reported more than 1,100 cases of COVID-19, one of the highest infection rates in the state.
The inspectors will enforce Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine’s order that requires owners of large buildings to enforce social distancing between workers and routinely clean and disinfect high-touch areas.
A new website allows workers and others to submit concerns anonymously.
More than 20,000 people work in the region’s extensive network of industrial parks, raising concerns about the risk of viral spread.
Tom Downing / WITF
The Pennsylvania state flag flies at half-mast atop the capitol building on Oct. 31, 2018.
Flags lowered
Wolf ordered flags at all state buildings and grounds to be lowered to half-staff until further notice to honor victims of the pandemic. He invited all Pennsylvania residents to follow suit.
“Too many Pennsylvanians have lost their lives to COVID-19, and, unfortunately, many more will die,” Wolf said in a written statement.
“This virus prevents us from honoring the dead at traditional gatherings. We cannot have funerals, wakes, or sit shiva. I hope this flag lowering provides some solace to the grieving families and friends,” he wrote.
Sometimes, your mornings are just too busy to catch the news beyond a headline or two. Don’t worry. The Morning Agenda has got your back. Each weekday morning, host Tim Lambert will keep you informed, amused, enlightened and up-to-date on what’s happening in central Pennsylvania and the rest of this great commonwealth.
