We’ll post information you need to see about what’s happening across the region, concentrating on State and Local News. But as we all know, people in our area are directly affected by events on the NYC to DC corridor, so we will post information that’s critical .
April 5, 2020
Chester County update- 246 cases, 2 deaths. Cases increase to 6 in New Garden, 2 in Kennett Square Borough, 3 in the Township, 3 in East Marlborough, 2 in Pennsbury and the first case appears in Pocopson.
Reminder: Gov. Wolf and Dr. Fauchi from the NIH recommend wearing a cloth mask when out in public.
US cases are over 300,000 and deaths are over 8,000 according to a report on MSNBC. The official CDC numbers will be updated on Monday, so expect to see a big jump at that point in time.
March 30, 2020
March 29, 2020
Lots of News-
Total US cases as of 4 PM 3/28: 122,653. Deaths: 2,112 Click here to read more from the CDC
PA cases jump to 3,394 across the Commonwealth Click here to see more from health.PA.gov
Detroit auto show cancelled as they turn venue into a field hospital.
Residents of NY urged to avoid all non-essential travel
Advice changing on Face mask use- maybe we should all consider wearing them, even if they aren’t medical grade- read more here from Slate.com
Dashboards for COVID cases in neighboring states
Click here to see the Dashboard for cases in nearby New Jersey.
Click here to see the Dashboard for Maryland
March 26, 2020
Jobless claims soar past 3 million.
March 25, 2020
Most recent updates from Chester County- 54 cases, 1,127 statewide. Click here for more information
How COVID 19 is affecting rural counties in PA- read this article in the Inquirer
March 24, 2020
Gov. Wolf issues stay at home order for several Pennsylvania counties; 851 COVID-19 cases.
Click here for details from 6 ABC
Updates from the Inquirer:
- Gov. Tom Wolf extended a stay-at-home order, which began Monday morning in Philadelphia, to six additional counties: Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Monroe, and Montgomery. Here’s the full list of what you can and can’t do under the order.
- The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics will be postponed for about a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
- The Firefly Music Festival, set to take place in June in Dover, Del., has been canceled.
- The Philadelphia School District is planning to distribute technology to children who lack computers as schools remain closed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
- Congressional and White House officials are reportedly close to reaching a deal on a nearly $2 trillion coronavirus economic stimulus package.
- Philadelphia is planning to turn a Center City hotel into Philadelphia’s first coronavirus quarantine site, and use it to house homeless people who test positive for the virus.
Cases escalate in New Jersey, Olympics postponed
Read article in the Inquirer
March 23, 2020
Gov Wolf Update- Stay at Home order for Chester, Delco, Montgomery, Bucks and Philadelphia Collar counties.
From Gov. Wolf’s press conference :- Stay at home order for another 2 weeks, including school closures.Stay Home, Stay Calm, Stay Calm.1 65 new case in the past 24 hours, 644 cases statewide, approx. 10% of cases end up in hospitalization and there have been 6 deaths so far in PA. Click here to watch
Governor’s new order:
Governor Wolf and Health Secretary Issue ‘Stay at Home’ Orders to 7 Counties to Mitigate Spread of COVID-19
Order Effective at 8:00 PM in Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Monroe, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties
Governor Wolf’s Order
Secretary of Health’s Order
Stay at Home Guidance
Harrisburg, PA – Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine today issued “Stay at Home” orders to Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Monroe, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties, as the state seeks relief to save lives and stop the spread of COVID-19.
This order takes effect at 8:00 PM on Monday, March 23, 2020, and will continue until April 6, 2020.
All schools statewide will also remain closed through at least April 6, 2020.
“I remain deeply concerned about this public health crisis and we must continue to take careful but critical steps now to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” Gov. Wolf said. “We are issuing these orders because Pennsylvanians’ health and safety remains our highest priority.”
“The number of cases continues to grow and so we must take further steps to stop the spread of this contagious and dangerous novel virus to protect the public’s health and mitigate the risk to our hospital system,” Dr. Levine said. “There is one way to make sure people don’t need to be hospitalized and we don’t strain our health care system: Stay calm. Stay home. Stay safe.”
Individuals may leave their residence only to perform any of the following allowable individual activities and allowable essential travel:
- Tasks essential to maintain health and safety, or the health and safety of their family or household members (including pets), such as obtaining medicine or medical supplies, visiting a health care professional, or obtaining supplies they need to work from home
- Getting necessary services or supplies for themselves, for their family or household members, or as part of volunteer efforts, or to deliver those services or supplies to others to maintain the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences
- Engaging in outdoor activity, such as walking, hiking or running if they maintain social distancing
- To perform work providing essential products and services at a life-sustaining business
- To care for a family member or pet in another household
- Any travel related to the provision of or access to the above-mentioned individual activities or life-sustaining business activities
- Travel to care for elderly, minors, dependents, persons with disabilities, or other vulnerable persons
- Travel to or from educational institutions for purposes of receiving materials for distance learning, for receiving meals, and any other related services
- Travel to return to a place of residence from an outside jurisdiction
- Travel required by law enforcement or court order.
- Travel required for non-residents to return to their place of residence outside the commonwealth
The following operations are exempt:
- Life-sustaining business activities
- Health care or medical services providers
- Access to life-sustaining services for low-income residents, including food banks
- Access to child care services for employees of life-sustaining businesses that remain open as follows: child care facilities operating under the Department of Human Services, Office of Child Development and Early Learning waiver process; group and family child care operating in a residence; and part-day school age programs operating under an exemption from the March 19, 2020 business closure Orders.
- News media
- Law enforcement
- The federal government
- Religious institutions
Individuals experiencing homelessness are not subject to this order but are strongly urged to find shelter and government agencies are urged to take steps needed to provide shelter for those individuals.
International students, foster youth, and any other students who would otherwise experience displacement or homelessness as a result of campus closures are exempt and may remain in campus housing.
At this time, law enforcement will be focused on ensuring that residents are aware of the order and informing the public of social distancing practices rather than enforcement. To report a noncompliant business, contact your local law enforcement agency’s non-emergency number or the nearest Pennsylvania State Police station. Please do not call 911 or the Department of Community and Economic Development to file reports. Law enforcement officers should refer to Business Closure Order Enforcement Guidance available online.
For the most up-to-date information on COVID-19, Pennsylvanians should visit: https://www.pa.gov/guides/responding-to-covid-19/.
Early loss of smell and taste may be a sign of infection
March 22, 2020
Latest Update from PA Department of Health
Click here to watch on 6ABC website
Chester County- 21 cases
Chester County is announcing 3 more positive cases of COVID-19 bringing our total to 21. The 3 new cases are located in West Chester Borough, East Bradford and Easttown. The discrepancy with what the state releases is jurisdictional between Delaware and Chester County, some of what the state released are in Delaware County.Details for all current cases can be found on the dashboard. (see the map on the Chester County page)
Latest PA Dept of Health update-
PA Department of Health @PAHealthDept·Update: Today (3/22/20 at 12:00 am), there are 108 additional positive cases of COVID-19 reported, bringing the statewide total to 479. All people are either in isolation at home or being treated at the hospital.
These states are ordering residents to stay home or shelter in place.
Click here to read the article from USA Today. Bottom line? Whoever is not on “lockdown” will be or should be. Do your part. Stay home, Minimize the necessary trips out- it’s emergency shopping, not social hour.
‘April Is Going to Be Worse,’ de Blasio Says of Coronavirus
Click here for more info from the NYT. Things are getting worse in NYC rapidly. NY also issues statewide closing of non-essential businesses.
Stimulus Bill to be finalized today
click here for more information from Politico
March 20, 2020
Gov. Wolf closes all non life sustaining businesses – click here for a list of what qualifies, what does not.
PA Police cut services, Plan for Shortages- from NPR/WHYY
March 19, 2020
State cancels PSSA and Keystone exams for students
you can read more by clicking here. The same report puts todays’s total of cases throughout the region- PA- 185 cases. New Jersey -742 cases; Delaware- 30 cases
Chester County and Delaware County Press Conference on COVID-19
In Chester County, there are 10 cases, including one in the 20-29 range- 7 municipalities are impacted. East Marlborough and West Marlborough townships both have cases.
Delaware County: Total in Delco- 14c ases with 5 new cases yesterday. Drive-thru testing is starting- you need a physician’s referral for testing at these sites. Need for volunteers for call centers, testing centers and more. Sign up through www.delcocitizencorps.com
Philadelphia’s most recent press conferenceon COVID 19 response
52 new cases in PA today
Click here to see the information from the Commonwealth website.
Number of cases in DE increases to 30
Most of them, 23, are in New Castle County. Also important- “The state is no longer releasing information about the number of people who are being monitored or undergoing testing, since hospitals and health care providers have started to do their own testing. ” Click here to read the article on Delaware Online
March 18, 2020
Trump to invoke Defense Production Act to expand production of hospital masks and more
Click here for more information from CNN
Number of DE cases grows to 19
Updates from the Delaware Business Now
Hospital Ship Headed to New York as Virus Count Spikes: Live Updates
Midway through a grim week, the virus continues to spread quickly.
Governor Cuomo said that President Trump will dispatch a 1,000-bed military hospital ship to New York Harbor.
March 17, 2020
Chester County Coronavirus Update: Infected Number Up To 6
Click here to read more in The Patch
Kennett COVID Information 