Governor Tom Wolf announced last week that COVID statewide percentage-positivity fell one-tenth of a point, to 4 percent, while officials continue to monitor and study new data.

In particular, those who recently confirmed to have contracted coronavirus are asked to complete a survey detailing their previous two weeks of activity, such as if they’d visited certain types of businesses or participated in mass gatherings.

Wolf reported a statewide decrease in new cases among 19-24 year-olds, but the weeks ahead may be particularly challenging to younger groups as schools attempt various means of reopening.

He also said a COVID-19 Response Task Force for Health Disparity assembled in April had submitted its report, which includes six recommendations focused on policy topics related to health disparity, ranked in order of urgency: housing, criminal justice, food insecurity, health disparity, education and economic opportunities. According to the report, each area either directly or indirectly affects the health of Pennsylvanians, and must be addressed to appropriately remove the disparities that have existed for generations and have only been exacerbated by the pandemic.

“I just want to thank this diverse Task Force and group of stakeholders who gave such important insight towards the creation of this report,” said Lt. Governor John Fetterman. “With 57 specific policy recommendations, I believe that this report will be beneficial in policy development to help end the health disparities in our marginalized communities, which have been so vastly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The report can be seen at https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/20200813-COVID-19-Health-Disparity-Report.pdf

As of Monday, the state has 121,354 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 7,486 deaths. Lehigh County has 5,006 confirmed and 341 deaths; Northampton County has 3,895 confirmed and 295 deaths; the city of Bethlehem has 1,204 confirmed and 82 deaths.