Pa. health secretary Levine says covid can be contained through masking and other efforts

The Pennsylvania Secretary of Health on Monday had a pointed response to a political declaration that “we’re not going to control the pandemic” as Pennsylvania and most other states see surges in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.

“Despite what has been reported in the last day or so, we can control covid-19,” said Dr. Rachel Levine, though she did not mention President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows by name. Meadows made the comments Sunday on CNN and said coronavirus cannot be contained “because it is a contagious virus.”

“It’s important not to give up on our public health responses,” Levine said.

That means, she said, using testing, contact tracing, case investigation and quarantining to stem the spread of the virus as well as using mitigation efforts like masking, distancing and gathering limits.

“We cannot rely upon any strategy that depends upon herd immunity,” she said. “That means basically letting it burn, and that is not a good public health strategy to follow.”

On Monday, 1,407 new cases were reported to the Department of Health, the 21st day the new case count has been over 1,000. Levine noted that Friday saw the highest single-day increase since the pandemic began – 2,219.

Hospitalizations on Monday were at 1,104 — up more than 270 from the week prior.

“This number has been steadily climbing and has increased sharply over the last week,” she said, noting that health officials expect the number to grow, as hospitalizations have generally increased about two weeks after new case counts have risen.

The percent positivity of tests statewide has also risen, now at 5% as opposed to 4.2% at the same time last week. Thirty counties are now seeing a percent positivity of more than 5%, Levine said.

Mirroring community spread, cases within long-term care facilities are also rising: 800 new cases among residents reported in the past week, and 24 facilities reported their first case during that time.

“We know that the number of cases in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities is directly proportional to the number of cases in the communities and counties in which they are located,” Levine said. “As we see increases in our counties and communities, we see those increases in long-term care facilities.”

She said that should be a reminder that “we are all interconnected,” and each person has the responsibility to help protect the most vulnerable populations.

Levine said getting full participation in case investigation remains a struggle, as fewer than a third of the 9,754 confirmed cases between Oct. 11 and Oct. 17 provided an answer as to whether they’d been to a business in the last 14 days.

Of the 2,841 who answered the question, 463 said they’d been to a business. The breakdown is: 55% said they’d been to a restaurant; 13% said they’d been to a bar; 11% said they’d been to a gym; 7.5% said they’d gone to a salon or barbershop; and 26% said they’d visited some other business.

Getting positive patients to say whether they’d attended a large gathering has been equally as difficult, according to data: Of the aforementioned confirmed cases, only 29% gave an answer as to whether they’d been to a large event. Of those who did answer, 482 said yes.

Levine said there has been an increase in the number of cases connected to small gatherings as well, though she did not provide data specific to those events. She said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending limited holiday gatherings, and the Department of Health is taking that stance as well.

“Unfortunately in this time … we need to rethink those gatherings,” she said. “We need to think about more and more gatherings being virtual or with just your family you live with and are exposed to all the time. I think that’s a sacrifice, but I think that sacrifice can mean that people don’t get sick in your family and your community, and that’s worth it.”