COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania, NJ continue to break records.Authorities plead with the public to take precautions | State / World

Philadelphia — State and local authorities are calling on the public to pay more attention, especially on Thanksgiving, as new coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania and New Jersey surge beyond the levels that prompted the spring closure. I will.

“The virus isn’t resting, and we can’t,” New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persicily said at a press conference Thursday. “Pandemic fatigue is a real threat to the containment of COVID-19.”

In Camden County, NJ, freelance holder Jeff Nash said at a press conference Thursday that the county “is now back in a trend that hasn’t been seen since March and April.”

“Indoor gatherings are the worst way you can spend now. We have to be more careful. If you’re going to meet with friends and family (at Thanksgiving), outdoors Please do it. “

In New Jersey, which saw the highest daily number of cases ever on Wednesday, the State Department of Health reported 2,104 new cases on Thursday, for a total of 247,219 cases. An additional 12 people died, with a cumulative total of 14,603 deaths.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported an unprecedented daily increase in 2,900 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the state-wide total to 220,566. Authorities also reported that 47 people have died since the pandemic began, for a total of 8,937 people.

Despite the worsening resurgence, Pennsylvania Health Director Rachel Levin said state officials are not considering returning to color-coded gradual spring restrictions.

“I have no plans to go back to things like red, yellow and green,” Levine said at a press conference Thursday. “There are no plans to close the school at this time.”

David Rubin, a physician who leads a national pandemic tracking and modeling project at the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital, believes the lack of intervention is unwise.

“These patterns have been around for weeks, with less intervention from state and city leaders who are hesitant to respond appropriately to the rally crisis,” the team blogged Thursday. “.

In Philadelphia, the number of cases has increased enough to reduce the effectiveness of contact tracing. Of the 2,110 cases reported during the week ending October 31, only 29% of Philadelphia’s contract tracers reached and agreed to participate in contact tracing, according to city health officials. did. Twelve percent of patients did not have a phone, 9% could not be contacted, and 2% did not agree to participate in contact tracing.

Jim Gallow, a spokesman for the city’s health department, said contact tracers did not try to reach 47% of patients because city officials were too often unable to respond. In addition, he said, the more cases there are throughout the city, the less useful contact tracing is. “Instead of tracking individual births, outbreaks occur everywhere, so we learn less from interviews,” he said.

Overall, hospitalizations in the area are below the levels reached in the spring. However, in some areas, the COVID-19 surge may be squeezing hospital capacity. In Camden, for example, the emergency room at Cooper University Hospital was temporarily detoured, according to the COVID dashboard site in New Jersey. This is a designation used to indicate that the hospital is temporarily unable to accept patients. Hospital staff did not respond to requests for additional information.

Across the state, New Jersey hospitals reported 1,224 COVID-19-positive patients and those under investigation on Thursday. Of these, 238 patients were in critical care and 36% of those critically ill were ventilated. There was another report of multiple organ inflammatory syndrome in children.

The percentage of diagnostic tests returning to positive has also risen in both states, now well above 5%. Benchmark experts say that the spread of the virus to the community is no longer controlled. New Jersey reported a positive rate of 7.7% on Thursday, while Pennsylvania’s rate was 6.1%.

The Camden County case has skyrocketed at a pace that officials called “very worried” at a press conference.

On Thursday alone, the county recorded “far more than 200 incidents,” Nash said. He added that the 7-day average was about 111 new cases per day, the highest during the 9-month pandemic.

According to Nash, contact tracing shows that indoor gatherings are spurring a surge. This fits the pattern seen nationwide as restaurants reopen, cold climates hinder outdoor socializing, and people ignore or disobey wearing masks to maintain proper distances. I will.

Levine said Pennsylvania has preliminary plans to distribute the coronavirus vaccine, expecting at least one vaccine to be available by early next year. The details depend on which vaccines are approved and how federal authorities prioritize allocations.

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The distribution of approved vaccines should be expedited, with healthcare workers, essential workers, and vulnerable people at the forefront.

However, the coronavirus vaccine presents a logistical challenge. According to Levine, five of the six vaccines included in the government’s Operation Warp Speed ​​development program require two doses. Two of the current front runners need to be kept at very low temperatures.

Levine also said the COVID-19 vaccine was not expected to be a “magic cure” for the pandemic. Instead, prevention is likely to be like a flu shot, reducing the risk of illness and potentially reducing the symptoms of the sick person. Coronavirus vaccines are not essential, and vaccinated people will need to continue preventative measures, such as wearing masks and increasing social distance, for several months until the infection rate is sufficiently low, Levine said. It was.

(Staffwriters Aubrey Welan, Erie Silberman, Tom Avril, and Stacy Burling contributed to the story.)

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