Erie County, a popular summer vacation spot for Western Pennsylvanians drawn to its lakefront and other attractions, learned Friday it would be entering the green COVID-19 reopening phase in time for the Fourth of July.
Gov. Tom Wolf, along with the state health department, announced 12 more counties, including Erie, will go green on June 26.
Erie has been the only county in Western Pennsylvania still in the yellow phase in recent weeks after it saw a spike in cases.
The other counties going green next Friday are Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia and Susquehanna.
Although Philadelphia has met the criteria set by the state’s health department, local officials have decided to continue to maintain additional restrictions until July 3. Philadelphia has had an additional 128 cases since Thursday.
With Mr. Wolf’s announcement, only one county in the state remains in the yellow phase: Lebanon.
“Case counts have escalated and the county is not yet ready to be reopened,” state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said in a news release. “Lebanon County has hindered its progress by reopening too early.”
In late May, county commissioners there had voted against state health department recommendations and had begun reopening. The number of new infections in Lebanon County per 14-day reporting period has more than doubled since that time.
Also on Friday, Pennsylvania reported 526 new cases of COVID-19, of which 65 are in Western Pennsylvania.
Based on new figures, the new statewide total is 80,762.
Erie County saw the highest increase in Western Pennsylvania with 18 new cases, and Allegheny saw the second highest with 16.
That brings the Allegheny County total to 2,138, of which 2,000 are confirmed and 138 are probable cases of the virus.
Allegheny County for the second consecutive day reported zero new deaths as a result of COVID-19 — keeping the total at 177, with 165 cases confirmed and 12 being probable. However, the state is reporting one new death for the county.
The number of past or present hospitalizations also has not increased and remains at 361. Of those hospitalized, 144 were admitted to an intensive care unit, and 70 needed mechanical ventilation.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Allegheny County has tested 45,408 individuals.
Here are the total numbers of positive cases reported Friday in Western Pennsylvania:
• Allegheny: 2,138 (up 16 from Thursday)
• Armstrong: 69 (up 1)
• Beaver: 619 (up 3)
• Butler: 263 (no change)
• Cambria: 62 (up 1)
• Clarion: 31 (no change)
• Clearfield: 63 (up 2)
• Crawford: 38 (up 3)
• Erie: 515 (up 18)
• Fayette: 103 (up 3)
• Forest: 7 (no change)
• Greene: 30 (no change)
• Indiana: 98 (up 1)
• Jefferson: 20 (no change)
• Lawrence: 90 (up 1)
• Mercer: 118 (no change)
• Somerset: 46 (up 4)
• Venango: 17 (no change)
• Washington: 162 (up 4)
• Westmoreland: 510 (up 8)
Here are the total number of deaths reported Friday by the state in Western Pennsylvania:
• Allegheny: 178 (Allegheny County Health Department is reporting 177).
• Armstrong: 6 (up 1)
• Beaver: 77 (no change)
• Butler: 13 (no change)
• Cambria: 3 (no change)
• Clarion: 2 (no change)
• Clearfield: 0 (no change)
• Crawford: 0 (no change)
• Erie: 9 (no change)
• Fayette: 4 (no change)
• Forest: 0 (no change)
• Greene: 0 (no change)
• Indiana: 5 (no change)
• Jefferson: 1 (no change)
• Lawrence: 9 (up 1)
• Mercer: 6 (no change)
• Somerset: 1 (no change)
• Venango: 0 (no change)
• Washington: 6 (no change)
• Westmoreland: 38 (no change). The Westmoreland County Coroner is reporting 32 deaths.
Here’s a look at demographic data in Allegheny County, based on Friday’s data from the county:
Cases by age group:
• 0-4: 16 (1%)
• 5-12: 23 (1%)
• 13-18: 36 (2%)
• 19-24: 144 (7%)
• 25-49: 718 (34%)
• 50-64: 552 (26%)
• 65 and over: 649 (31%)
Deaths by age group:
• 40-49: 2 (1%)
• 50-59: 9 (5%)
• 60-69: 23 (13%)
• 70 and over: 143 (81%)
Cases by gender:
• Female: 1,144 (54%)
• Male: 978 (46%)
Deaths by gender:
• Female: 105 (59%)
• Male: 72 (41%)
Cases by race:
• White: 1,309 (62%)
• Black: 535 (25%)
• Asian: 94 (4%)
• Other: 29 (1%)
• Race unknown: 155 (7%)
Deaths by race:
• White: 141 (80%)
• Black: 34 (19%)
• Asian: 1 (1%)
• Unknown: 1 (1%)
Nursing and personal care homes
The state has released data — organized by county — about cases and deaths at nursing and personal care homes. Here’s information about Western Pennsylvania, based on Friday’s figures.
• Allegheny: 42 facilities, 528 cases among residents (up 1), 133 cases among employees, 140 deaths
• Armstrong: 2 facilities, 8 cases among residents, 7 cases among employees, 5 deaths (no change)
• Beaver: 3 facilities, 392 cases among residents, 43 cases among employees, 82 deaths (no change)
• Butler: 8 facilities, 16 cases among residents, 12 cases among employees, 2 deaths (no change)
• Cambria: 1 facility, 1 case among residents, 0 cases among employees, 0 deaths (no change)
• Clarion: 1 facility, 1 case among residents, 1 case among employees, 0 deaths (no change)
• Clearfield: 2 facilities, 2 cases among residents, 1 case among employees, 0 deaths (no change)
• Erie: 14 facilities, 36 cases among residents, 32 cases among employees (up 8), 6 deaths (no change)
• Fayette: 2 facility (up 1), 4 cases among residents (up 1), 2 cases among employees (up 2), 1 death (no change)
• Indiana: 5 facilities, 15 cases among residents, 5 cases among employees, 4 deaths (no change)
• Jefferson: 1 facility, 0 cases among residents, 1 case among employees, 0 deaths (no change)
• Lawrence: 2 facilities, 0 cases among residents, 2 cases among employees, 0 deaths (no change)
• Mercer: 1 facility, 1 case among residents, 0 cases among employees, 0 deaths (no change)
• Washington: 6 facilities, 8 cases among residents, 3 cases among employees, 2 deaths (no change)
• Westmoreland: 13 facilities (up 1), 140 cases among residents, 39 cases among employees (up 2), 28 deaths (no change)
• Pennsylvania: 651 facilities (up 2), 16,895 cases among residents (up 45), 3,012 cases among employees (up 26), 4,345 deaths (up 13)
For additional information on Allegheny County data, visit Allegheny County’s COVID-19 Dashboard. More information on statewide results can be found on the Department of Health website.
First Published: June 19, 2020, 6:00 p.m.
