Pennsylvania

• 644 confirmed cases, 6.595 tested negative, Deaths 3

Cases by county in the 10-county region per Pennsylvania Department of Health
* case count last updated at 12:00 p.m. on 3/23/2020

State Updates 

• Notes from the Governor’s 2 pm press conference are below.

Sec. Levine

• • As of 12 am, 165 new cases, new total 644 tested positive in 34 counties
  • ~60 residents have been hospitalized, ~10% of all who tested positive
  • ~6,000 negative tests
  • Had 6 deaths so far in PA
  • Learning daily about new symptoms of COVID-19
  • Have your employees stay home, even if mild symptoms, for all businesses – even first responders, healthcare or food/grocery

Governor Wolf

• • We all need to take this more seriously in order to get back to business as usual
  • Stay-at-home order already issued for Philadelphia
  • Issuing stay at home order for Allegheny, Monroe, Philadelphia and its surrounding counties (Chester, Montgomery, and Bucks)– effective at 8 pm tonight
  • 75% of Pennsylvania cases are in these six counties
  • Governor’s office will be issuing guidance for what this means
  • This order will be issued for at least two weeks
  • Schools closed another two weeks
  • Grocery and other essential businesses will remain open
  • Each person should act as if we have COVID-19
  • Please do not leave home unless you absolutely need to
  • Need to halt the increase so our healthcare and hospital infrastructure can keep up

• The PA House advanced SB 422, the bill that will likely be the vehicle for changing PA’s primary date, from Committee this afternoon.  Note that the bill passed the Senate in June on a party-line vote of 28-22.
• The PA House is scheduled to be in session, tomorrow, March 24 at 11 am.  The PA Senate has cancelled session for tomorrow, March 24, and stands in recess until the call of the President Pro Tempore.

Regional Coronavirus Update:

• Allegheny County

• Allegheny County Health Department Officials have launched a campaign to combat misinformation related to COVID-19. For more information, individuals are encouraged to visit the Rumor Control page of the County website.

• Westmoreland County

• 4 additional COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Westmoreland County.

Federal Coronavirus Update:

• Senate Democrats have again defeated a key procedural vote for the Senate version of Phase III. Senate Democrats and Republicans continue to negotiate the terms of the stimulus with the Trump Administration.
• House Democrats have started crafting their version of the COVID- 19 “Phase III”. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has proposed billions to ensure digital connectivity, additional funds for schools and universities as well as other measures.