Governor Tom Wolf said in a statement last week that a new COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard comparing the seven-day period of July 17 - 23 to the previous seven days, July 10 -16, has shown an increase in cases statewide that justifies further concern and caution.

The dashboard is designed to provide early warning signs of factors that affect the state’s mitigation efforts. The data available on the dashboard includes week-over-week case differences, incidence rates, test percent-positivity, and rates of hospitalizations, ventilations and emergency room visits tied to COVID-19.

“The mitigation efforts we took last week were a proactive step to get in front of the rise of cases that we are continuing to see,” Wolf said. “We know that it will take a period of time for the mitigation efforts to be reflected in the data. One thing we know for certain is that we must continue to wear masks and practice social distancing.

“We need to recommit to the simple measures of mask-wearing and social distancing to stop the spread and go back to more freedoms.”

As of Thursday, July 23, the state had seen a seven-day case increase of 5,912; the previous seven-day increase was 5,579, alerting that cases are continuing to rise throughout the state.

The statewide percent-positivity went up to 4.7 percent from 4.4 percent last week. Counties with concerning percent-positivity include Beaver (8.7 percent), Armstrong (8.6 percent), Franklin (7.7 percent), Mercer (7.6 percent), Allegheny (6.6 percent), Lawrence (6.2 percent), Chester (6.0 percent), Philadelphia (5.6 percent), Fayette (5.4 percent, York (5.4 percent), Dauphin (5.3 percent, Delaware (5.3 percent), Bedford (5.1 percent) and Greene (5.1 percent. Each of these counties bear watching as the state continues to monitor all available data.

The Department of Health has updated its travel recommendations, originally announced on July 2, to add Missouri and Wyoming to the list of states recommended for domestic travelers returning from to quarantine for 14 days upon return to Pennsylvania.

Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine reminds us all, “As the state has put in place new mitigation efforts to offset recent case increases, we must renew our commitment to protecting against COVID-19 by wearing a mask, practicing social distancing and following the requirements set forth in the orders for bars and restaurants, gatherings and telework.”

As of Monday, the state has 105,228 COVID-19 cases and 7,122 deaths. Lehigh County has 4,646 and 335 deaths; Northampton County has 3,758 and 298 deaths; the city of Bethlehem has 1,159 confirmed and 82 deaths.