Wolf acknowledges red counties’ virus frustrations

Residents of Luzerne County and 17 other counties still in the most restrictive coronavirus red zone may feel “disappointed or frustrated right now,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said in an online briefing Friday.

People want to feel productive, go to work and stores and see their friends, he acknowledged.

“Time has worn us down,” Wolf said. “With each passing day, it becomes harder and harder to stay home.”

He addressed the remaining red counties after announcing 12 more counties that will advance to the yellow phase, allowing more businesses to reopen and other changes. In total, 49 counties will be in the yellow category on May 22.

Unlike floods, storms and other disasters with visible dangers, the coronavirus particles in someone’s breath or on a doorknob or light switch can’t be seen, he said. What many people now see are beautiful spring surroundings that mask a danger that is “real” and must be treated seriously, he said.

Wolf said he’s relying on epidemiologists and state health department workers trained to analyze virus pathways and opportunities for spread. These experts pay attention to the potential for multiple customers in a busy store to inhale particles from one, an essential worker unknowingly passing the virus to other bus passengers and droplets from a symptomless restaurant customer spread around a dining room by the ventilation system, he said.

In addition to known positive case counts, these professionals are tracking how people throughout the state move and interact, which areas have more closed quarters and “shared touch points” and the likelihood that “one case will become 100 cases,” he said.

“I base the movement of counties from red to yellow on their scientific and medical advice,” Wolf said. ”As the leader of this Commonwealth, I’m responsible for the health and safety of all Pennsylvanians, and I can’t — and I will not — let this virus ravage our communities.”

Analysis determined still-red counties continue to have a higher risk of virus spread, Wolf said, promising to lift restrictions “as quickly as I think it’s safe.” Offering a sign of hope, he said some of the counties moving to yellow next week have eliminated concerns that had existed just two weeks ago.

“So please, keep up your efforts in the fight so we can continue to add counties to the list of yellow phase,” he said.

Asked for his reaction to red-phase county officials expressing economic concerns and pushing for a move to yellow, which includes some Luzerne County officials, Wolf said their frustrations are “realistic and reasonable” but should be “directed to the virus” because he is trying to keep people safe.

Allowing more people to die, get sick and require treatment beyond the capacity of the state’s health care system would be worse for the economy, he said, describing his strategy as “less bad” in battling a virus forced upon him.

Wolf cautioned that counties in the yellow phase should continue social distancing, wearing masks when they’re around others in public, working remotely when possible and following hygiene protocols. The virus “has not been eradicated” in these counties, and they face a return to red if outbreaks develop and can’t be contained through tracing and quarantining those in contact with the infected, he said.

If cases continue to decline, Wolf said he can lift more restrictions and “bring our lives closer to normal.”

State Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said vigilance as cases decline will prevent a resurgence and “keep our counties moving in the right direction.”

Testing continues to increase statewide, with nearly 120,000 tests performed April 30 through Thursday, she said during the briefing.

The state is progressing through reopening just over two months since announcing its first positive cases, Levine said.

“Parts of the country that have moved with a more aggressive approach are actually seeing rises in cases, and we are keeping a careful eye on what is happening in other countries whose outbreaks have subsided to see if they return, and some of them have had increased number of cases,” Levine said.

Child illness

In another health concern, Levine said Pennsylvania now has cases of a new illness in children that may be associated with the coronavirus.

Levine said the state is still working on obtaining more specifics, including exact numbers, and will release any information it can as soon as possible.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a case definition of this Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, known as MIS-C, on Thursday.