A day after Carbon County recorded its first death from coronavirus, state health officials have reiterated the need for social distancing to slow the virus’s spread.

On Tuesday, the Department of Health announced there were 756 new cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, bringing the total to 4,843 cases statewide.

It also announced Carbon County’s first death due to the virus - the 63rd person to die of the virus in Pennsylvania since the outbreak began.

Carbon County now has 17 cases and one death, and Schuylkill has 38 cases and no deaths. Monroe County has 236 cases, seven deaths; Lehigh has 272 cases and four deaths, and Northampton has 245 cases, five deaths.

Health officials are not releasing specifics about cases, such as age or town of residence.

Secretary of Health Rachel Levine continued to maintain that the only way to prevent deaths from the virus are to continue the governor’s mitigation efforts, including closures of schools and non-life-sustaining businesses. More than half of the counties in the state are under a stay-at-home order.

“If we do not all stay home and stay safe, then we will see the worst-case scenarios from all of these models, including the potential overwhelming of our health care systems. That’s why the governor’s mitigation and prevention efforts are so important,” Levine said.

Tuesday’s new cases represent an 18.5 percent increase over the previous day’s total. That is the smallest increase since the outbreak began. But Levine said it is still to early to say whether the spread of the virus is slowing.

Levine said the department has received many questions about when the virus will peak in Pennsylvania.

She said the state has models for the virus spread, not unlike the ones used by weather forecasters. She said the models still need time to pick up on the impact of the governor’s mitigation efforts.

The models have revealed some trends - including that hospitalizations appear to be happening less frequently than they did in China.

Levine said that the state is still only recommending testing for people who have coronavirus symptoms, and population-based testing is not possible. The state lab is prioritizing health care workers and people living in nursing homes. She said anyone who has been recommended by a doctor for a test should receive one.

Nursing homes have been a particular concern because the elderly are more likely to experience complications.

Levine said that Gov. Tom Wolf is having discussions with the governors of New York and New Jersey about the migration of residents from New York into Pennsylvania. There are currently more than 75,000 cases in New York state.

Levine was asked about her reaction to conditions in New York City, where the virus is more widespread and health care workers have been sickened.

St. Luke’s Monroe president Don Seiple put out a plea Sunday for residents to stay home. He said the majority of the cases in the emergency room are COVID-19 related, as half of the cases in the hospital.

Likewise, Lehigh Valley Health Network said about half LVH-Pocono’s admissions are for COVID-19.

“We would have anticipated the number of positive cases to rise when we started testing, which began at seven locations on March 12 and four others shortly thereafter, including in the Poconos,” spokesman Brian Downs said. “We are also seeing that fewer people in Monroe County and the Poconos seem to be heeding the warnings about staying home and social distancing. All of this is leading to the rising numbers of positive cases and hospitalizations we are seeing.”

Levine said the state is preparing with health networks statewide to prevent a strain on resources if or when there is a surge of patients. And it also highlights the need for the governor’s mitigation efforts, she said.

“We have to mitigate the spread of this illness to avoid a very large peak like we’re seeing in New York City,” Levine said.