Health Secretary Levine Announces New Statewide Restrictions Amidst Surge in COVID-19 Cases

Keith Heffintrayer•

Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine.

UPDATE: Nov. 17, 1:24 p.m. - Dr. Levine reiterated that state officials do not want residents to travel, including for the upcoming holiday weekends.

As far as enforcement of the new mitigation efforts, Dr. Levine stated that local police and health departments will be able to handle enforcement.

Prior update follows...

UPDATE: Nov. 17, 1:21 p.m. - Dr. Levine said one model shows that Pennsylvania will run out of available ICU beds sometime in December.

Original story follows...

Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announced a new round of COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday afternoon, aimed at regaining control of the spread of the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus that has seen exponential growth in new cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks.

The new restrictions include:

Anyone coming into the state of Pennsylvania — including Pennsylvania residents traveling home — must have a negative COVID-19 within 72 hours prior to arrival. If a negative test is not available, travelers must quarantine for 14 days or until a negative test is received.
Masking is now required both outdoors and indoors, unless a person is with their own household. Masking is now required at all times indoors, even when at an appropriate social distance.

The announcement, which was made at 1 p.m. during a press-only call, is somewhat of an about-face for Levine, who as recently as six days ago expressed confidence in the restrictions that Pennsylvania already had in place. Though Levine did not completely rule out installing new mitigation efforts at that time, she expressed optimism that existing restrictions and orders, coupled with increased access to PPE, testing and effective treatment protocols, would be enough to stave off the current surge.

Levine said that the commonwealth received a dire weekly report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force this week, which stated that current mitigation efforts and restrictions were ineffective. Though the above efforts seek to strengthen restrictions already in process, Levine reiterated that the state will not return to the "Red-Yellow-Green" phase structure that was used in the spring and summer.

Earlier on Tuesday, Pennsylvania reported 5,900 new cases, which represents a single-day record for new cases and brought the state’s total to 275,513 confirmed positive cases. Hospitalization statistics show that 2,737 people are currently hospitalized across the commonwealth, of which 280 require the use of a ventilator.

About 67% of those who have tested positive in Pennsylvania have since recovered, leaving an estimated 90,919 active cases across the state. By contrast, on Oct. 19, there were an estimated 36,663 active cases across the state.

The following is the accompanying release from the Wolf Administration:

As Pennsylvania experiences a resurgence of COVID-19 cases with significantly higher daily case counts than in the spring and hospitalizations on the rise, the Wolf Administration has identified four new mitigation efforts, which Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announced today.
“It is our collective responsibility to protect our communities and our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians from COVID-19 and to continue to work together to get through this pandemic. These targeted mitigation efforts, combined with existing ones, are paramount to saving lives and protecting our economy,” Gov. Wolf said. “The administration will continue to monitor the risks posed by COVID-19 across the commonwealth and will reinstate or institute new targeted mitigation tactics as necessary.”

The efforts announced today include:
Protecting Our Health Care System
Dr. Levine issued a memorandum to acute care hospitals outlining expectations to care for Pennsylvanians who need care during the pandemic.
Hospitals are to work through the established health care coalitions and other partnerships to prepare for how they will support one another in the event that a hospital becomes overwhelmed during the pandemic. Hospitals should also be working to move up elective procedures necessary to protect a person’s health and prepare to suspend them if our health care system becomes strained.
Restrictions on elective surgeries put into effect in March and lifted in April were to help with both PPE and bed capacity and were considered successful.
Hospitalizations are increasing, as are ICU patients, and according to modeling from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, which does not take into account hospitalizations from influenza, Pennsylvania will run out of intensive care beds in December if ICU admissions continue at the current rate.
The same modeling indicates we will have sufficient medical-surgical beds with some uncertainty as to capacity from region to region.
Traveler Testing
Dr. Levine issued an order requiring anyone who visits from another state to have a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to entering the commonwealth.
If someone cannot get a test or chooses not to, they must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvanians visiting other states are required to have a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to their return to the commonwealth or to quarantine for 14 days upon return to Pennsylvania.
This order, which takes effect on Friday, November 20, does not apply to people who commute to and from another state for work or medical treatment.
Strengthened Masking Order
Dr. Levine first issued a masking order on April 15. The order signed today strengthens this initial order with these inclusions:
Masks are required to be worn indoors and outdoors if you are away from your home.
When outdoors, a mask must be worn if you are not able to remain physically distant (at least 6 feet away) from someone not in your household the entire time you are outdoors.
When indoors, masks will now be required even if you are physically distant from members not in your household. This means that even if you are able to be 6 feet apart, you will need to wear a mask while inside if with people other than members of your household.
This order applies to every indoor facility, including homes, retail establishments, gyms, doctors’ offices, public transportation, and anywhere food is prepared, packaged or served.
Colleges and Universities
The departments of Health and Education issued recommendations for colleges and universities to implement a testing plan for when students return to campus following the holidays.
These recommendations include establishing routine protocols for testing.
Colleges and universities should have adequate capacity for isolation and quarantine and should be prepared to enforce violations of established policies such as mask wearing and physical distancing.
Every college and university should test all students at the beginning of each term, when returning to campus after a break and to have regular screening testing throughout the semester/term.
“We must remain united in stopping COVID-19,” Dr. Levine said. “Wear a mask, wash your hands, stay apart and download the COVID Alert PA app. If you test positive, please answer the call of the case reviewer and provide information that can help protect others. It’s the selfless, right thing to do.”