HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The Pennsylvania Department said Friday that 200 more people with COVID-19 have died, raising the statewide death toll to 3,616.
The deaths took place over the past several weeks. The Health Department has been reconciling its records with data provided by hospitals, health care systems, municipal health departments and long-term care centers.
Residents of nursing homes and personal care homes account for more than two-thirds of the overall death toll, although the state Department of Health has not disclosed the number of deaths or cases by nursing home.
More than 1,300 additional people have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. To date, the virus has been confirmed in over 54,000 people in Pennsylvania.
The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick. There is no data on how many people have recovered.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in a couple of weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems are at higher risk of more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
In other coronavirus-related developments in Pennsylvania:
NURSING HOMES
Nurses on Friday said nursing home workers in Pennsylvania said facilities where they and their colleagues work never had enough personal protective equipment for staff.
Artinese Malachi, a nurse in Pittsburgh who is represented by the Service Employees International Union, said she and her colleagues are “forced to work with the bare basics of protection on an already taxed staff.”
“We were never prepared; most long-term care facilities weren’t and still aren’t,” Malachi said during a telephone news conference organized by the state Democratic Party.
Nursing home industry officials in Pennsylvania have acknowledged that they have had trouble getting personal protective equipment and testing capability.
Tina Siegel, a nurse in Clarion County, said she and her colleagues have a good relationship with her facility’s management, but its owners have not secured enough protective equipment. Instead, they use cloth masks, she said.
She and her colleagues have N95 masks, but many don’t fit properly and they were asked to wear them five times before throwing them out, Siegel said.
“It doesn’t matter how soiled they are in between, we have to wear them five times,” Siegel said.
Siegel and her colleagues are caring for patients stricken with coronavirus, but, she said, those patients’ rooms are not separate from other patients’ rooms, as recommended by federal guidelines. In addition, she and her colleagues take care of both patients infected with the virus and those who are not, instead of being dedicated to one or the other, as federal guidance recommends, she said.
The women did not identify where they work.
___
DENTAL CARE
Some elective dental procedures can resume statewide, the state health secretary announced Friday, though cleanings and other routine dental care are still off-limits.
Gov. Tom Wolf and Health Secretary Rachel Levine revised their business closure orders to lift the prohibition on “non-urgent and non-emergent” dental procedures.
Dentists and staff must have personal protective equipment and use infection control practices that adhere to federal guidance, Levine said. And all patients must be screened for symptoms of the virus before arriving.
“This isn’t a return to routine dentistry,” Levine said.
___
BARS AND RESTAURANTS
Bars and restaurants in counties that have been minimally impacted by the coronavirus are asking to be allowed to seat customers again - but outside.
Even as Wolf eases pandemic restrictions in dozens of counties, dine-in service is still off-limits at eateries statewide.
A trade association for restaurants and bars that have liquor licenses wants Wolf to loosen restrictions on establishments in the so-called “yellow” zone, counties where Wolf has lifted stay-at-home orders and allowed retailers to reopen. Those bars and restaurants should be able to open decks, patios and courtyards, at up to 50% of the outdoor maximum seating capacity and with tables at least 6 feet apart, the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association said.
Parking lots also could be used to offer limited seating, roped off with a single entry point, while the bars and restaurants could offer live entertainment, with restrictions on noise levels, the group said.
As the virus continues to ebb, the association said it wants establishments to be able to seat patrons inside, with the same social-distancing rules as outside.
___
ANTIBODY TESTING
A suburban Philadelphia county said it spent a month fighting red tape at the state Department of Health before winning permission to offer coronavirus antibody testing to first responders, health care workers and their families.
Chester County said Friday it’s the first county in Pennsylvania to offer the blood tests, which can detect whether someone was infected with the virus in the past. Researchers are trying to determine whether people who have already fought the virus have some level of immunity.
Marian Moskowitz, chair of the Chester County Board of Commissioners, said the Health Department set up regulatory road blocks that delayed the rollout by a month.
“So instead of channeling our efforts into getting the tests up and running, we have had to focus our energy on overcoming the red tape,” Moskowitz, a Democrat, said in a written statement.
Levine, asked about the delay at a video news conference Friday, said the county went through a “process” to be able to offer the tests.
The testing began Friday at two locations.
___
Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
Please read our comment policy before commenting.