People exercise on treadmills at the Planet Fitness along Allentown Boulevard in Harrisburg on June 19, 2020. As the gym reopened to customers, it blocked off half the treadmills to maintain distance between patrons.
Kate Landis / WITF
Pennsylvania officials eye areas where COVID-19 cases rising
Lebanon County is scheduled to move to the green phase on July 3
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The Associated Press -
Ryan Briggs/WHYY
Kate Landis / WITF
People exercise on treadmills at the Planet Fitness along Allentown Boulevard in Harrisburg on June 19, 2020. As the gym reopened to customers, it blocked off half the treadmills to maintain distance between patrons.
(Harrisburg) — Pennsylvania health officials are looking closely at areas where COVID-19 infection rates and deaths are ticking back up, threatening to turn back progress against the pandemic, the state’s health secretary said Friday.
“We are doing quote-unquote a deep dive into all of the counties that have had increases,” Dr. Rachel Levine said, warning that “community spread” is occurring in some parts of the state.
The rise may be attributable to the gradual reopening that has been taking place in Pennsylvania, as well as more extensive testing, Levine said.
Cases are on the rise in Allegheny County, which reported 61 new confirmed infections Friday, its second-highest total.
Meanwhile, Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration will allow Lebanon County, the 67th and final county, to move from the yellow phase to the less-restrictive green phase in one week, Levine said.
In Lebanon County, the commissioners voted 2-1 to reopen without the governor’s OK, and the heavily agricultural area in south-central Pennsylvania was held back when other hard-hit areas were allowed this week to move to green, the least restrictive phase in Wolf’s three-phase reopening plan.
The Health Department also announced Friday there are 600 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the state, the highest total since June 13. Pennsylvania has now seen more than 84,000 confirmed cases.
There were also 22 additional deaths reported Friday, for a statewide total of 6,579 since March.
In other developments:
PennDOT extends expiration on licenses and permits
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has announced yet another extension to expiration dates on driver’s licenses, identity cards, and learner’s permits in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
On Tuesday, PennDOT automatically renewed all documents set to expire from March 16, 2020, through July 31, 2020, through the end of next month, in an effort to limit virus exposure in driver’s licensing centers. The extension also applies to temporary camera cards.
The agency issued a similar renewal notice in May for drivers’ documents set to expire earlier in the year.
Vehicle registrations, auto inspections, and handicap parking placards that were previously extended through the end of June are not covered by the latest extension.
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.
