Wolf Administration : Confirms Two Presumptive Positive Cases of COVID-19

Okay, thank you, everybody, for being here I think as you know in the last few hours we received confirmation of two presumed and I emphasize the word presumed positive or infected cases of COVID-19 or coronavirus in Pennsylvania. Now, I'm saying presumed positive for a reason because the results have to be confirmed by the CDC but we have two that we have tested in Pennsylvania and so we're presuming positive one is in Delaware County and the other is in Wayne County. Both of the cases have been quarantined in their homes and as you also probably know the Bucks County five schools have been shut down by the superintendent and the Health Department there, so we're monitoring that situation in Bucks County. Our Secretary of Health dr. Rachel Levine will give an update on all of this in just a minute since the identification of the COVID19 or coronavirus has been.

Again, since the identification an emergency response team here in Pennsylvania right here in this building has been working diligently to develop a plan for when this virus inevitably arrived in Pennsylvania the Department of Health set up an incident command center at the beginning of February, so it's been up for five weeks now. Here in Pennsylvania Emergency Management building just down the hall and they have been coordinating and monitoring the responses that we've been making, so I think they've been hard at work, there have been and will continue to be numerous daily briefings with the federal Center for Disease Control and also the Department of Health is coordinating with other state agencies. The other states and relevant federal agencies state that they're dealing with here in Pennsylvania include PEMA, of course, the department's of Human Services education military and veterans affairs agriculture the Pennsylvania State Police the office of administration the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education the Department of Aging and the list goes on and on. Right now, the emphasis of the plan is mitigation tactics to keep this virus from spreading widely the confirmation of these presumed positive cases should serve as a reminder of the role, that every Pennsylvanian must continue to play. This is a responsibility that goes to almost 13 million of us in Pennsylvania.

We have to control the spread and to decontaminate the coronavirus disease by what we do day in day out in our daily lives so tactics like washing your hands for at least 20 seconds or disinfecting the coronavirus. Basically, that's as long as it takes to sing happy birthday twice just as a guide 20 seconds covering your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze and not with your hands but with your sleeve and your elbow, you can stop spreading the illness also just by not touching your face so those things are important. If you feel ill stay home and I'm encouraging employers to allow workers to take the sick time. I'm also suggesting if you can offer telecommuting work and other options that allow employees to work without risk of sharing the disease, more information on prevention and symptoms of the COVID-19 virus can be found by clicking the banner at the top of PA gov that's our website we will continue to update that website as we gather more information and when it emphasized that we all should remain calm here. Dr. Levine our health secretary has an extensive background in medicine and she's leading the team of highly trained medical and public health personnel who are fully prepared to continue to do what they've been doing for the last five weeks and that monitors the situation, so while the Department of Health is leading this response in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. They're also coordinating with every level of government in Pennsylvania the federal government and beyond to tackle any issues that may come up so I can assure you that our state government will continue to function smoothly as we respond to this public health issue and we're prepared to take action. 

On secondary issues just as we do with the natural disaster, so as the situation develops and we will continue to provide the public with information on the extent of the health crisis and our response so again please visit PA gov and follow the banner line or follow the commonwealth of Pennsylvania x' official Facebook or Twitter pages. So now I'm going to turn this over to Dr. Rachel Levine, secretary of health for the Department of Health Pennsylvania. Dr. Levine, thank you good morning. Thank you for attending our latest update on the 2019 novel coronavirus our COVID-19 as governor wolf has said we have two individuals with presumed positive cases of COVID-19 they are both at home and they are in isolation or quarantine and at the same time they are in good physical condition. We also are aware that five schools in Central Bucks school district have closed out of an abundance of caution and we are working with our partners at the Bucks County Health Department and school district and at this time. However, there are no confirmed cases in Bucks County and the situation there is actually not related to any Pennsylvania exposure. It is not related to the two cases that we are discussing and we are working with our County and Municipal Health Department partners to continue to test individuals that meet criteria for testing for COVID-19. Importantly we are able now as we have been reporting all week to do testing for COVID-19 at our state Public Health Laboratory in Exton Pennsylvania.

We are continuing to increase our testing capabilities at this state laboratory and we are also aware that commercial labs are coming online. To also begin testing our Pennsylvania response teams include our colleagues at PEMA PennsylvaniaEmergency Management Association the Hospital and Health System Association of Pennsylvania HAP the Pennsylvania Medical Society all of our courageous first responders. Our County in Municipal Health Department partners and as the governor mentioned state federal and local partners and we are all prepared to deal with disease outbreaks including this one we expect more cases to be confirmed in the upcoming days and weeks and we want everyone to take action to help prevent the spread of this novel coronavirus COVID-19. We will continue to update our website and have the latest information tips and preparation checklists on our Department of Health website or health PA gov for you to use.