Two additional cases of COVID-19 have been reported for Elk County and one for McKean, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health on Thursday.
Elk County was up to 48 cases, McKean County had 34, Potter County remained at 20 and Cameron County remained at 6.
Statewide, there were 807 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 116,521. Allegheny County is reporting an increase of 100 cases and Philadelphia is reporting an increase of 112 cases.
The number of tests administered within the last 7 days between July 30 and Aug. 5 is 148,132 with 5,496 positive cases, the health department indicated. There were 21,590 test results reported to the department through 10 p.m., Aug. 5. These results represent the total number of tests administered.
There are 643 patients who have a positive serology test and either COVID-19 symptoms or a high-risk exposure, which are considered probable cases and not confirmed cases. There are 1,183,730 patients who have tested negative to date.
There are 7,282 total deaths attributed to COVID-19, an increase of 38 new deaths reported.
Also on Thursday, Gov. Tom Wolf and health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine highlighted ongoing efforts to expand testing across Pennsylvania to ensure that every Pennsylvanian who wants a test can get one.
“If we want to mitigate the spread of this very contagious virus, we must continue to understand how it’s impacting Pennsylvania. Most importantly, improving access to testing helps Pennsylvanians who want and need to test for COVID-19,” Wolf said. “Testing also provides us with critical data to understand where the disease is in our communities so that we can take the necessary proactive measures to stop the spread and continue to protect the public.”
Pennsylvania has conducted the ninth highest total number of tests for COVID-19 in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 1.6 million tests have been completed, which equates to 13 percent of the Pennsylvania population.
At the height of the first wave in April, statewide testing capacity was limited to under 8,000 tests per day. Pennsylvania is now averaging more than 22,000 test results per day, as of Saturday, Aug. 1, and is testing about 4 percent of the population each month.
