HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania confirmed more cases of the new coronavirus on Tuesday, as more schools canceled classes, travel or events.
The state Department of Health reported another positive test for COVID-19, the sickness caused by the new coronavirus, in a resident of Montgomery County. That brings the statewide total to 11. That resident is hospitalized, while a school reported that a student has been sickened after their parent tested positive.
A look at the latest developments in the spread of the new coronavirus in Pennsylvania:
What we know
All 11 people who tested positive live in eastern Pennsylvania, and the first 10 cases are people believed to have contracted it by traveling outside the state or country. The latest person to test positive had close contact to someone who tested positive, department officials said, although they declined to say whether it is a Germantown Academy student.
Germantown Academy in suburban Philadelphia said Tuesday that a student has tested positive after a parent tested positive earlier this week, KYW-AM radio in Philadelphia and The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Eight people who tested positive are residents of Montgomery County, including one identified by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as a cardiologist working at a King of Prussia facility.
Others testing positive are residents of Monroe, Delaware and Wayne counties. At least three were hospitalized Tuesday and the rest are at home in isolation, officials said.
Health Secretary Rachel Levine said the state isn’t recommending that large gatherings be canceled.
The illness
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.
What we don’t know
The Department of Health is giving few details about patients. It is not saying how many samples it is testing, how many negative tests it has taken or how many people it is monitoring under quarantine. It is also not saying where precisely someone traveled when they were exposed.
At least three medical personnel who treated people who tested positive have also been quarantined, newspapers have reported.
Cancellations
The 2020 Northeast Regional Science Olympiad at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, an annual event scheduled for Wednesday that draws more than 800 students in the region, was canceled.
The University of Pennsylvania is preparing to move classes online, if necessary, and is prohibiting all future university-related travel and curtailing large university events at least until April 17. It is strongly recommending canceling or postponing university meetings or events of 100 people or more, and meetings that include people from other cities and countries, even if fewer than 100 people.
Penn Medicine has prohibited all faculty, students and staff of both the Perelman School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania Health System from participating in large gatherings.
Testing
The state has a lab in Exton, in suburban Philadelphia, that can make use of new equipment to boost its capacity to test up to 150 people a day from up to 25 people a day. Private labs and academic medical centers are starting to administer tests or will start soon. Levine said there is no testing backlog.
All major health insurers providing comprehensive medical coverage in the state will cover medically appropriate COVID-19 testing and treatment, including waiving cost-sharing for testing, Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration has said.
