tag | Department of Health

The plans involve adding hospital beds within regions for 60 days to absorb patients from swamped hospitals.

Alison Beam, who had previously served as Wolf’s deputy chief of staff, guided the state’s COVID-19 pandemic response over the past year.

Late last week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children five through 11 years of age.

Roughly 254,000 people in the state did not get the second shot of a two-shot COVID-19 vaccine.

People are trying to normalize taking the COVID-19 vaccine in a community that has been disproportionately affected by the disease.

The state employs 1,600 contact tracers who can support municipalities and counties struggling to keep up with surging case numbers.

The state is in the midst of a spike in COVID-19 infections. Last Friday was the state’s highest one day case load ever reported at 2,219.

Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said 71% of people interviewed from Oct. 11-17 did not completely answer questions as to whether they frequented a business or attended a mass gathering in the 14 days before their symptoms showed up.

Colder weather, school and complacency are all playing a role in the uptick in cases.