Brian Hagberg
WARREN, Pa. – Warren County set a single-day high for new COVID-19 cases Thursday with 22 new cases, nearly tripling the previous high set less than a week earlier.
In the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s daily COVID-19 Dashboard update Friday, 17 confirmed and five probable cases were reported for Thursday. That brings the county’s cumulative total to 154, 134 confirmed and 20 probable.
The previous single-day high for new cases, eight, was set Nov. 13 (DOH had initially reported nine, then removed one case) and matched Nov. 18. Less than 20 days into November, the county has more than doubled the number of COVID cases it had from March 24, the date of the first reported case, through Oct. 31 (71 total cumulative cases).
Most of the new cases, 74, have been confirmed, with just nine new probable cases added to the cumulative total. From Nov. 13 through Nov. 19, the county has had 56 new COVID cases reported. The 83 November cases is nearly triple October’s total (27), the previous monthly high.
A number of local businesses have already been impacted by the November case surge. The Plaza closed Monday, then reopened Thursday, after a staff member came in contact with a COVID positive patient. The Jefferson DeFrees Family Center Daycare is closed through Nov. 30 after six staff members were in contact with an individual who later tested positive. Northwest Bank announced yesterday that it was taking its lobbies back to “by appointment only” in an effort to keep staff and customers safe. The Sugar Grove Volunteer Fire Department canceled a number of events, and Total Evolution Café has voluntarily closed its dining room as an additional safety measure.
The rapid increase in cases statewide caused DOH Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine to announce new targeted mitigation efforts Tuesday aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. Included among those are testing requirements for travelers and a strengthening of the state’s mask mandate.
“Masking is one of the simplest steps we can all take to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Levine said during the announcement. “If you have people in your home that are not part of your household, you must wear a mask.”
While the case count increases, the county still has just a single reported COVID-19 death.
The cumulative case count includes those cases the state considers “recovered.”
A case is considered recovered “if a case has not been reported as a death, and it is more than 30 days past the date of their first positive test (or onset of symptoms) then an individual is considered recovered,” according to the Department of Health.
