Dec 9, 2020
POLITICO – Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, though he said he does not have symptoms and will continue to work.
Wolf announced his diagnosis in a tweet Wednesday, in which he said he had tested positive during a routine Covid test.
Wolf is isolating at home according to guidelines by the Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
His wife, Frances, was also tested for the disease and is isolating as she awaits her results, he said.
Wolf said in a statement posted to his Twitter account:
“As this virus rages, my positive test is a reminder that no one is immune from COVID.
“Following all precautions as I have done is not a guarantee, but it is what we know to be vital to stopping the spread of the disease.”
Over 440,000 people have tested positive for the disease in Pennsylvania and over 11,000 have died.
As cases have surged across the country, Wolf has urged Pennsylvanians to take extra precautions to prevent the spread of the disease … Read more.
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COVID-19 In Pennsylvania:
Wolf Paints Bleak Picture Of Overwhelmed Hospitals
CBS Pittsburgh, KDKA – HARRISBURG (KDKA) – Gov. Tom Wolf held a press conference Monday with a message for the state:
“Pennsylvania, we have a problem.”
The governor painted a bleak picture of hospitals and healthcare systems overwhelmed, ICU beds full up and the public being turned away for necessary treatments. He said the continued rise in the virus makes this grim scenario not only possible, but likely.
“If we don’t slow the spread of this dangerous virus now, if we don’t do this, the reality is that COVID-19 will overwhelm our hospitals, will overwhelm our healthcare systems,” Gov. Wolf said.
He urged Pennsylvanians to stay home, not to attend gatherings and to wear a mask when they have to leave the house.
“What happens if there’s simply no more beds? No more ventilators available?” Gov. Wolf said. “If the worst happens, hospitals will not be able to treat all sick Pennsylvanians. They’ll be forced to turn away people who need treatment and that means more Pennsylvanians will die.”
When it comes to new mitigation measures, he said he thought restrictions from a few weeks ago would have worked and stopped the numbers from becoming as “alarming” as they are now.
“We are looking at all sorts of issues right now, and very shortly we’ll come back with more recommendations,” he said.
The message the governor said he wanted to emphasize is that people need to take the virus seriously, and he said the state will be looking at what it can do.
“All of us are in this together, and the state needs to do whatever it can and we will continue to do that, and if we need to do more, we will, and we will be making that decision very shortly,” he said.
The warning from the governor comes as the statewide percent positivity for Nov. 27 through Dec. 3 jumped to 14.4% compared to 11.7% the week before.
There are nine counties — including Somerset and Lawrence in our area — experiencing percent positivity at or above 20%.
Last week, there was a seven-day increase of more than 48,000 cases and 66 out of the state’s 67 counties have “substantial” transmission of the virus.
While healthcare systems in southwestern Pennsylvania say there’s sufficient capacity for the foreseeable future, some rural and independent hospitals are already at their limit … Read more.
Dec 7, 2020
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — In a news conference on Monday, Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said mitigation efforts the state put in place before Thanksgiving don’t seem to be working.
“If we don’t slow the spread of this dangerous virus now, if we don’t do this the reality is COVID-19 will overwhelm our hospitals, will overwhelm our healthcare systems,” Wolf said.
With recent surges of COVID-19 Wolf and Dr. Levine said some hospitals only have a few beds remaining in intensive care units.
“That’s dangerous for everyone who needs medical care in a hospital for any reason, because it stretches resources and staff to the breaking point,” Gov. Wolf said.
“This is a significant challenge for our healthcare system in Pennsylvania and one that our healthcare system has never faced before,” Levine said.
As COVID-19 cases surpass record highs nearly every day, with the total number of cases in Pa. topping 400,000 and the percent-positivity increasing by nearly 3-percent, Gov. Wolf said more shutdown orders could be on the way if the situation doesn’t improve.
“Each and everyone of us has to take this seriously,” Wolf said. “This is not going to go away no matter what the state does.”
Wolf said the red, yellow, and green phases of lockdowns, which were used in the Spring, was a blunt instrument to slow the spread of the virus.
Wolf said he doesn’t anticipate using similar shutdown orders.
“We know a lot more about the disease and the vaccine is on the horizon,” Wolf said. “The time is different right now.”
In order to limit transmission and to protect healthcare workers, Gov. Wolf and Dr. Levine encouraged Pennsylvanians to stay home, to avoid gatherings with individuals outside of the household, and to continue wearing masks.
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