The Economic Outlook Summit included a look at the impact of COVID-19 in the state and the four-county region of Monroe, Carbon, Pike and Wayne counties.

Dr. Wendy Braund, the COVID-19 response director for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, gave some sobering statistics.

“Today, we passed the half a million mark,” she said.

As of Dec. 15, the number of people in Pennsylvania who have contracted COVID-19 was 509,320. Of the total number of confirmed positive cases, 42% have occurred within the past 30 days, Braund said.

There are 6,026 people hospitalized with more than 20% of them in the intensive care units and almost 12% on ventilators or breathing support.

“We continue to hear of additional hospitals across the state that either have no ICU beds left or very few,” she said.

Of those who have gotten sick, 54% are female and 46% are male; 42% are 50 years old and older.

In children, the cases of COVID-19 are rising. In the past two weeks, more than 10,500 children have become infected.

Currently, there are two counties - Bedford and Crawford - that have a rate of positivity of 30%; 15 counties have a rate of positivity above 20%.

According to the COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard for the week of Dec. 4 to 10, Carbon is at 15.3%, Monroe at 16.8%, Pike at 9.1% and Wayne at 11.7%.

Braund said that since the pandemic began in March, 12,890 residents have died from COVID-19 - 270 on Dec. 14.

Work toward combating the virus needs to continue through containment, mitigation and medical countermeasures, she said. This can be done by continuing to wear masks, wash hands and socially distance at least 6 feet apart.

Another weapon in the arsenal is a new app called COVID Alert PA. This app uses Bluetooth technology and exchanges a secure, random code with other phones using the app that are within 6 feet from it for at least 10 minutes. The information is stored in a list.

When a person tests positive for the virus, a public health official will ask the person if they want to share the list of codes he or she encountered. If the person says yes, then the app will send an alert to the codes on the list to let them know of their possible exposure. This way, people, in particular those who are asymptomatic, can isolate themselves and possibly get tested.

Braund said the app does not collect any personal information, such as names, phone numbers or locations. So far, about 696,000 people have downloaded the app.

“The more people who use the app, the larger the network of potential individuals who benefit, so please download the COVID Alert PA app today,” she said.

The state also will be opening 500 more testing sites in tents, and is expected to get 111,150 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this week.