Pennsylvania

• 851 confirmed cases, 8,643 tested negative, Deaths 7

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

3/24/20 1pm update:

State Updates

• PA State Police issued 27 warnings to non-life-sustaining businesses on the first day of enforcement. It was noted that the overwhelming majority of people and businesses across the commonwealth are voluntarily complying with the order and doing their part to stop the spread of COVID-19. They noted that this process will be phased in using two parts, first with warnings to gain voluntary compliance, followed by enforcement as necessary.
• Governor Wolf issued a hiring freeze yesterday to those who work under his jurisdiction, and ordered all state agencies to limit spending to essential purchases. Exceptions to the freeze are positions that directly help with battling the coronavirus. Additionally, the Commonwealth has rescinded any job offer as of last Thursday, and has postponed any scheduled transfers from one department to another.
• The PA House is in session today and expected to move SB 422, which would move the date of the PA primary from April 28th to June 2nd.
• The Administration will be holding its daily press conference at 2 pm today. Notes from that will be shared on the 4 pm update.

Regional Coronavirus Update:

City of Pittsburgh

• Pittsburgh Public Schools will remain closed through the district’s scheduled spring break and students and school-based staff will return on April 14^th despite Gov. Wolf’s announcement that all schools will be closed for an additional two weeks statewide through at least April 6^th.
• The Department of Parks & Recreation announced that all city parks are now closed.

Allegheny County

• The county is one of seven counties under a stay-at-home order (effective March 23 at 8:00 p.m.) as announced by Gov. Wolf. However, there is no curfew in place with the order. The other counties are Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Monroe, Montgomery and Philadelphia as they are the hardest hit with COVID-19.
• The County Treasurer’s office is temporarily closed until further notice. This is in response to Gov. Wolf’s recommendations. The deadline for taxpayers to receive the 2% county real estate tax discount is extended to April 30 and the deadline to pay the face value amount is May 31^st.
• Beginning on March 25^th, the Port Authority of Allegheny County will be cutting its bus and rail service by 25% because of the recent decrease in ridership. For the new schedule, visit the agency’s website, https://www.portauthority.org/coronavirus
• Allegheny County reported 2^nd COVID-19 death – individual in 70’s.

Federal Coronavirus Update:

United States Senate

• All signs point to a final deal being done this afternoon for Phase 3 deal. The plan is to pass in U.S. Senate and ask for unanimous consent passage in the House of Representatives. This requires all House members to support – one member can stop unanimous consent passage.

The White House

• POTUS issued an executive order to prohibit hoarding and price gouging of medical supplies and equipment.
• POTUS indicated that the social distance guidelines and other restrictions would be in place for ‘weeks’ and not months.

Department of Justice

• Scott Brady, U.S. Attorney for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, extends a thank you to all western Pennsylvanians who have reported #COVID19 scams via its hotline to the Western PA COVID19 Fraud Task Force. Scams should be reported by calling the toll-free hotline, 1-888-C19-WDPA (219-9372) or emailing usapaw.covid19@usdoj.gov.

Department of Homeland Security

• The October 2020 deadline for Real ID compliant program has been postponed indefinitely.

Department of State

• The State Department has established a task force to assist in bringing over 13,000 Americans back into the country as foreign borders have closed and commercials flights have been suspended or cancelled.

Federal Emergency Management Agency

• FEMA as reported that the Defense Production Act is being used for the first time to secure medical equipment, including test kits and face masks.
• FEMA has launched a website to help the public distinguish between rumors and facts relative to COVID-19.

Department of Defense

• Defense Secretary Mark Esper upgraded the Pentagon’s health protection level to its second-highest setting, putting more restrictions on entering the building in response to COVID-19. The health protection level could include some medical screening including temperature testing.
• The USNS Mercy is being deployed to Los Angeles to help relieve hospitals by helping with non-COVID-19 patients and freeing up bed space.

2020 Tokyo Olympics

• Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the IOC President Thomas Bach have agreed to postpone the 2020 games by one year; officials are looking for a new date. This is the first time that the Olympics have been rescheduled during peacetime.

India

• India’s Prime Minister announced ‘total lockdown’ of the country’s 1.3B people – the world’s most extensive stay-at-home order.