COVID-19 Update – Tuesday, April 21 1:00pm

STATE: Pennsylvania COVID-19 Statistics per Pennsylvania Department of Health
Data updated as of 12:45pm on 4/21/20

STATE: Cases by Age Range to Date
per Pennsylvania Department of Health
Data updated as of 12:45pm on 4/21/20

STATE: Hospitalization Rates by Age Range to Date
per Pennsylvania Department of Health

Data updated as of 12:45pm on 4/21/20

REGIONAL: COVID-19 cases by county to Date
per Pennsylvania Department of Health
Data updated as of 12:45pm on 4/21/20

State Coronavirus Updates

• Wolf, Sec. of Health Extend Statewide Stay-at-Home Order until May 8: Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announced on Tuesday, April 21 that the statewide stay-at-home orders issued on April 1 to protect Pennsylvanians and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 will be extended until Friday, May 8 at 12:01 AM. The initial order was set to expire on April 30. Read more: https://dingo.telicon.com/PA/library/2020/2020042037.HTM.
• Department of Health Provides Update on COVID-19, 1,296 Positives Bring Statewide Total to 34,528: The Pennsylvania Department of Health today confirmed as of 12:00 a.m., April 21, that there are 1,296 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 34,528. All 67 counties in Pennsylvania have cases of COVID-19. The department is continuing to work to increase the types of cases that are being added to our death case counts. Today, 360 new deaths are reported among positive and probable cases, bringing the statewide total to 1,564. County-specific information and a statewide map are available here. All people are either in isolation at home or being treated at the hospital. Read more: https://dingo.telicon.com/PA/library/2020/2020042188.HTM.
• Wolf Administration Encourages Residents To Support Local Restaurants with CarryoutPA.com: On Tuesday, April 21, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s (DCED) Tourism Office encouraged Pennsylvanians to support local restaurants by visiting the CarryoutPA website, which offers a comprehensive list of restaurants offering takeout, curbside, or delivery services during the state’s stay-at-home order. Read more: https://dingo.telicon.com/PA/library/2020/2020042198.HTM.

Regional Coronavirus Updates

• Allegheny County
  • Allegheny County Council is taking steps to ensure many of those essential workers don’t get left behind as many don’t have paid sick days to use during the global pandemic.  On Monday, April 20, the “Paid Sick Days Act” was introduced into county council and if passed, it would require all employers in Allegheny County to provide paid sick days to employees.
• Westmoreland County
  • Westmoreland County voters won’t automatically get applications for mail-in ballots ahead of the June 2 primary. County commissioners said Monday April 20 they opted against a mass mailing based on county’s tenuous financial condition and a reluctance to recommend to voters how they should cast ballots this spring. The mail-in ballot program has been popular throughout Pennsylvania this spring as more and more voters have opted against traveling out in public amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
• Southwestern Pennsylvania
  • Several counties in the region reported new COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday April 21, including nine new deaths at nursing/long-care homes in Western Pennsylvania, according to the latest statewide figures. Allegheny County reported 17 new cases of COVID-19, according to the figures. The county health department is now reporting that there have been 1,059 cases and 67 deaths due to the coronavirus. Those are an increase from Monday April 20 when the county reported 1,042 cases and 55 deaths.
• Pittsburgh Promise
  • The Pittsburgh Promise announced it received a $1,325,000 grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation to help provide financial relief for students who have faced distributions to their academic year due to COVID-19. Funds from the grant will support students who need financial assistance with post-secondary admission applications, room and board deposits, co-pays for mental health services, food resources for those facing food insecurity and bridge scholarships for those whose parents have lost a job due to the pandemic but remain eligible for Pell or PHEAA funding.
• UPMC
  • UPMC doctors have started treating COVID-19 patients with blood plasma from survivors – a technique not proven for coronavirus but successfully used to fight off outbreaks of measles and influenza. The first patient was treated Monday April 20 and other patients could begin treatment this week, McDyer said. The treatment, called convalescent plasma, contains antibodies from a previously infected person that are transfused to sick patients.

Federal Coronavirus Updates

• The White House
  • The president tweeted on Monday, April 20 that he will sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration to the United States as the nation battles the health and economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. In recent weeks, the administration had already barred asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants from entering the country. As the virus spreads throughout the United States, and as critics of the president argue that he has not done enough to confront the pandemic, the president has often pointed to his decision in late January to bar travel from China as evidence that he was working to confront it.
• United States Congress
  • Congress and the Trump administration are currently negotiating another round of funding for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.  The deal would reportedly allocate approximately $310 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program.  This program provides 100 percent federally guaranteed loans to small businesses.  These loans may be forgiven if businesses maintain their payrolls during the crisis or restore their payrolls afterward.  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer believes a $450 billion relief package could be passed in the Senate as soon as Tuesday afternoon of April 21 to help small businesses and expand coronavirus testing.
  • Democratic lawmakers are requesting that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supply information on how it is planning to balance natural disasters and its COVID-19 response. A group of 80 Democrats, led by Rep. Jerry McNerneyand Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), sent a letter to FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor asking the agency to outline disaster preparation and recovery plans for COVID-19. The Democrats point to the fact that disaster season is approaching, specifically for flooding, wildfires and hurricanes, and to the tornadoes and storms in Louisiana and Mississippi. The lawmakers expressed concern that FEMA’s resources are already thinned from its response to the COVID-19 crisis, making the agency unable to effectively respond to any natural disasters that occur at the same time.
• U.S. House of Representatives
  • A dispute over virus testing is at the heart of the latest standoff in Washington: next phase of federal virus relief. House Democrats say they are close to a deal with the president on the next phase of federal virus relief, but before they sign off they want a nationwide testing plan included in the bill. The legislation is already likely to include $25 billion for testing, as well as more than $300 billion in new loans for small businesses, and $75 billion for hospitals, but Republicans have thus far resisted instituting a national testing framework. The Senate’s Republican leadership has scheduled a session for 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, suggesting that it expects the president and the Democrats to have come to an agreement by then.
• U.S. Department of Labor
  • The U.S. Department of Labor announced on Tuesday, April 21 the end of the temporary period of non-enforcement of paid leave protections under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).  The non-enforcement period allowed the department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) to offer extensive guidance and education about the law’s requirements, which aided American workers and enabled employers covered by the new law to come into compliance as the nation continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic.  To resolve issues that have arisen with providing FFCRA-required leave, WHD has explained employers’ obligations and has assisted employers with getting money into the hands of workers. Educational outreach efforts will continue as enforcement begins in order to ensure compliance with the law and to maximize its benefits for workers and employers alike.

National Coronavirus Updates

• According to CNN, as of 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, 2020, there are 42,458 coronavirus-related deaths and 788,920 total positive cases in the United States.
• The governors of Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee announced they’ll ease restrictions this week despite neither meeting White House recommendations of a two-week downward trend in cases before lifting measures.
• Protesters have gathered in states across the country over the past week demanding lifts in lockdown restrictions. In Kentucky, where a number of well-attended protests have occurred, the Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, announced over the weekend that the state had begun to experience a higher rate of infection. Beshear has said that he will not begin to lift restrictions until the state’s infection rate has been in decline for 14 consecutive days. But some other Southern states are moving to reopen, making them canaries in the mine as the nation wonders when a return to public life will become safe. In South Carolina, many retail stores will be allowed to reopen Tuesday, April 21 after the governor decided to ignore federal health officials’ recommendations. Georgia is set to follow by the end of the week, and in Tennessee, the governor has indicated that he will let stay-at-home restrictions in many places lapse on May 1.