As the number of coronavirus cases across Pennsylvania continues to grow, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said Sunday that the state is monitoring the need to increase its mass testing sites, which are currently located in the southeastern portion of the state.

“They have been actually going now for almost two weeks,” she said of the locations in Philadelphia and Montgomery County. “Those are funded by the federal government and the federal Department of Health and Human Services. So we can discuss with the federal government the possibility of setting up other federally subsidized mass testing sites, but the decision will be theirs.

“But we will certainly be working with the hospitals and health systems in the Pocono area about having testing sites and being able to handle the increased number of cases in that area.”

With its proximity to New York a point of concern, Monroe County, which currently has 135 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and three deaths, was labeled a “hot zone” by St. Luke’s University Health Network on Sunday.

Philadelphia and Montgomery County have the most confirmed cases statewide, with 865 and 488, respectively.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed Sunday that there are 643 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 3,394 in 58 counties, up from the 2,751 cases across 56 counties reported Saturday. The department also reported four new deaths among positive cases, bringing the statewide total to 38.

Health care system

To combat the surge of critically ill patients, Levine noted that all measures are being taken to ease the burden on hospitals and the health care system.

“What we’re working on is to try to prevent a large surge of patients that could potentially overwhelm our health care system,” Levine said. “That is the purpose behind the prevention and mitigation efforts of the governor, including the stay-at-home orders that we have been discussing. So that would turn a large tidal wave of patients into a small wave of patients that we can deal with.

“But we will consider any possibility and any contingency plan if certain areas are at risk of being overwhelmed, including transfer. We have to deal with the logistics of transferring patients, which can be challenging. But we will consider any contingency plan if that is needed.”

Levine noted that there are currently 3,400 intensive care beds in Pennsylvania, with approximately 40% of ICU beds still available, though the number fluctuates on a day-to-day basis and is being monitored continuously.

Around the area, Lehigh County had 151 cases, up from 109, and three deaths.

Schuylkill County now has 21 cases, which was an increase from the 16 previously reported. Carbon had six additional cases in the most recent release, bringing the total to nine.

There were 30,061 patients who have tested negative to date.

Faster test results

Levine stressed that the state is working to get results back from each test as quickly as possible.

“Our testing results that are done at our state laboratory for priority patients, such as health care workers, nursing home patients, etc., we can have those results within 24 hours,” said Levine. “For a number of hospitals and health systems, they can have a more rapid turnover of results if the tests are being done at their own laboratory.

“But we have heard that the commercial laboratories have waiting periods. I haven’t heard 10 days, but certainly up to five or more days. So that’s a significant issue, and we have been in contact with Quest and with LabCorp about that, and we’ll do everything we can to try to decrease the waiting time to get results. Our results that we get, that we report every day, are always a snapshot. They’re always a snapshot in time at midnight, of where the state and local areas stand at that time. They are dependent on which labs are coming back from different laboratories, so trends are more important than exact numbers, and we have been emphasizing that. We’re looking at trends over time, in terms of the rise of cases, so it’s always a snapshot. But we realize that, and we figure that into our thinking.”

Ventilators

With worries over ventilators growing in different areas across the nation, Levine offered reassurance that Pennsylvania has been proactive in making sure there is an adequate supply.

“We have more than 4,000 that are within health care systems,” she said. “We also have a store of ventilators at the Department of Health to deal with any surge. And actually, under the governor’s leadership, the Department of Community and Economic Development has been looking to purchase ventilators, and we have indeed purchased ventilators that we’ll be getting over the course of this month.”

While optimistic, Levine urged that the preventive measures that have been taken and will continue are vital to helping stem the tide of cases across the state.

“So we are preparing for that potential surge,” said Levine. “The key to the integrity of our health care system is going to be to limit the size of that surge, and that is why the early implementation of the stay-at-home order, and the business order, and now the stay-at-home orders in the different counties and school closures, is critical to Pennsylvania’s response. But we are working to have ventilators for any patient who needs it, and we have to cut off the top of that surge to be successful.”

Despite the continued rise in the number of cases, Levine emphasized that all precautionary measures must remain in place.

“It takes weeks for social distancing to work, especially in regard to some of the delay we’ve been discussing in getting some results back,” she said. “So we are watching the data every day, for first a plateauing of the number of new cases that we’re seeing, and then a decrease. But as I’ve been saying, it’s the change over time, which is important. We need to see a sustained plateau, and then a decrease in the number of new cases, and that will show us that our efforts are proceeding.

“It’s critical at that time not to release the mitigation efforts too soon, or we’ll just see another peak. So we’ll be watching all of that very carefully under the governor’s leadership.”