Third Coronavirus Death Reported in Upper Gwynedd, Countywide Cases Increase to 1,294

Montgomery County officials announced 160 new COVID-19 cases
on Tuesday, with 24 of them occurring in the North Penn area and 29 more
reported in the neighboring municipalities.

In the North Penn area, Montgomery Township and Hatfield
Township have the most cases with 30 each, followed by Upper Gwynedd Township
with 27, Lansdale Borough with 24, Towamencin Township with 10, Hatfield
Borough with seven and North Wales Borough with one.

Total cases in the North Penn area currently stand at 129.

Cases in the neighboring communities continued to increase
as well, with 29 new cases announced on Tuesday. Municipal totals are as
follows:

Souderton Borough – 22
Telford Borough – 10
Franconia Township – 11
Lower Salford Township – 22
Skippack Township – 14
Worcester Township – 17
Whitpain Township – 31
Lower Gwynedd Township – 28
Horsham Township – 36 and three deaths

Totals across the surrounding municipalities currently
stands at 191 cases.

As of Tuesday afternoon, cases in Montgomery County have
increased to 1,294 total across 59 of the county’s 62 municipalities. The only
municipalities within the county to not report a positive case are Pennsburg
and West Conshohocken.

The coronavirus has also claimed the lives of 32 Montgomery
County residents—five new since Monday—including the death of a 94-year-old
male from Upper Gwynedd, which represents the third coronavirus death within the
last week that occurred in the township.

Montgomery County Board of Commissioners Chair Dr. Valerie
Arkoosh also provided an update on cases across the county’s nursing homes,
stating that 34 of the 75 nursing homes within the county are reporting a total
140 cases among residents and another 53 cases among staff members. Arkoosh
added that one unidentified nursing home has between 16 to 20 cases, and
another has between 20 to 25 cases.

Regarding the modeling that showed a looming surge of cases
for the county, Arkoosh said that she hopes we’re close to the peak, and added
that modeling for Pennsylvania as a whole “looks good.”

“We’re hoping it doesn’t get much worse for us,” Arkoosh
said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Pennsylvania reported 1,579 additional
coronavirus cases, bringing the statewide total to 14,559 cases across 67
counties. The coronavirus death toll also increased by 78 since yesterday,
bringing the total to 240 deaths across the commonwealth.

“Now more than ever, as we continue to see COVID-19 cases
and deaths rise in Pennsylvania, we need Pennsylvanians to take action,”
Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. “Those actions should be to stay
calm, stay home and stay safe. If you must go out, please limit it to as few
trips as possible and wear a mask to protect not only yourself, but other
people as well. We need all Pennsylvanians to heed these efforts to protect our
vulnerable Pennsylvanians, and also our healthcare workers and frontline
responders.”

Levine said that the dramatic increase in deaths since
yesterday was not a result of the anticipated surge; rather, it was due to a
delay in the reporting systems.

“Today’s significant increase in deaths is due to a lag time
of reporting into our system,” said Levine.

Of the state’s near 15,000 coronavirus cases, 664 have
occurred in healthcare workers, 674 are in long-term care facilities such as
nursing homes, 1,165 are hospitalized—roughly 11-percent of cases—and 548 have
required the use of a ventilator.

In total, 76719 residents have tested negative for the
virus. Recovery statistics are not currently available at the state or county
level, as officials said that data would require each person to self-report
their recovery.

That said, with most agencies reporting an approximate
two-percent mortality rate for the COVID-19 coronavirus, it can be deduced that
98-percent of cases are expected to recover.

Community Testing Site Closures

Both of the community testing sites—one in Montgomery
County, one in Philadelphia County—will cease operations on April 10.

In response to a question from North Penn Now during
Tuesday’s press conference, Levine stated that those sites will close due to the
withdrawal of federal funding.

“Those two sites were set up a number weeks ago in
collaboration with the federal government,” Levine said, adding that the federal
government provided site funding, materials, testing equipment and funds for
testing. “As of [April 10], the federal government is withdrawing
that funding, those supplies and their testing materials, and so Philadelphia
and Montgomery counties have decided to cease those testing [sites].”