Brian Hagberg
WARREN, Pa. – With six new COVID-19 cases reported for Tuesday, Warren County has reached 53 total new cases for November, an average of more than three per day.
Five of the six new cases were confirmed, with one probable, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s daily update Wednesday. That brings the county cumulative total to 124, 109 confirmed and 15 probable.
The six new cases give November 53 for the month, 49 confirmed and four probable, an average of 3.11 new cases per day. It also raised the county’s cumulative cases per 100,00 to 313.9.
Warren County was the last county to cross the 100 per 100,000 threshold, doing so Sept. 8. The county jumped from 111.4 on Oct. 1 to 179.8 on Oct. 31.
The rise in cases has already had a negative impact on local businesses. Both The Plaza Restaurant and Jefferson DeFrees Family Center Daycare have been forced to close due to staff coming in contact with a COVID positive patient. Warren General Hospital changed its visitation policy due to the increase in cases across the region. And Total Evolution Café took the proactive step of temporarily closing its indoor dining area in an effort to keep customers safe.
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.
