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COVID-19 relief funds awarded to fire, EMS providers in Luzerne County

Luzerne County&rsquo;s coronavirus cases have been steadily rising since last month&rsquo;s fleeting decline, according to the state&rsquo;s early warning dashboard readings.
				New weekly confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county had decreased from 87 to 72 and then 61 during the three-week period between Sept. 4 and 24.
				However, new cases jumped back up to 84 the week of Sept. 25 to Oct. 1.
				The latest dashboard update released Friday shows there were 119 additional confirmed cases from Oct. 2 to Thursday.
				As a result of the fresh numbers, the county&rsquo;s incidence rate, or number of cases per 100,000 residents, is now 37.5, compared to 26.4 the previous week.
				Also rising was the county&rsquo;s &ldquo;positivity rate,&rdquo; or percentage of diagnostic tests yielding positive results, which went up a full percentage &mdash; from 2.4% to 3.4% &mdash; over the two-week period.
				The latest statistics keep county school districts tethered to the &ldquo;moderate&rdquo; ranking for community transmission.
				School districts in &ldquo;moderate&rdquo; counties should avoid full in-person instruction and use either remote-only learning or a blended hybrid model, with some students in school while others learn remotely at home, the state said.
				To advance to the &ldquo;low&rdquo; virus spread ranking, counties must have both fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period and a positivity rate below 5%, the state has said. Districts in counties ranked as &ldquo;low&rdquo; transmission should consider full in-person instruction for all students or a blended system, the state said.
				In another dashboard benchmark, the county&rsquo;s average daily number of coronavirus hospitalizations increased from 2.6 to 6.6 over the last two weeks.
				The two remaining county measurements:
				&#8226; On average, 0.3 coronavirus patients were on a ventilator the last seven days, compared to zero the prior week.
				&#8226; The county&rsquo;s hospital visits due to coronavirus-like illnesses increased from 0.5% to 0.6%.
				State results
				Pennsylvania also experienced a rise in cases, the latest update said.
				There were 7,065 new cases statewide in the week ending Thursday, or 1,020 more than the prior week&rsquo;s 6,045.
				With that increase, the statewide cases per 100,000 rose from 47.2 to 55.2. The state&rsquo;s positivity rate increased from 3.6% to 3.9% in the latest week.
				The remaining statewide updates in the dashboard, which is posted at <a href="https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Monitoring-Dashboard.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.health.pa.gov</a>:
				&#8226; Average daily hospitalizations rose from 507.4 to 640.1.
				&#8226; The daily average number of patients on ventilators increased from 61.7 to 75.9.
				&#8226; The percentage of hospital visits due to coronavirus-like illnesses statewide went from 0.7% to 0.9%.
				In a recent release about the state&rsquo;s rising statistics, Gov. Tom Wolf said the increases in both the incidence and positivity rates are a &ldquo;reminder the virus still remains a threat in our communities.&rdquo;
				State Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine encouraged residents to download the free COVID Alert PA app to aid in contact tracing efforts.
				Using Bluetooth technology, the app informs participants when they have been exposed to the coronavirus without compromising their identity or location. If an alert is issued, contact tracers are assigned to answer questions and guide notification recipients on how to proceed.
				For those testing positive, public health professionals acting as contact tracers spend a half hour to an hour asking questions to identify all places the infected visited and people they were near. Information collected during the case investigation process is not shared publicly unless doing so would help the department in its efforts to stop the spread on a broader scale, Levine said. 
				Also this week, Levine urged residents to get their flu shots before the end of October due to the double threat of a flu season coinciding with the continuing pandemic.
				&ldquo;There is no better measure to protect yourself from flu than to get a flu vaccine,&rdquo; Levine said.
				Available in a shot or nasal spray, the flu vaccine is recommended for everyone 6 months and older, Levine said.
				The vaccine can reduce the severity and duration of symptoms for those afflicted, she said. Testing may be needed to help confirm a diagnosis because flu and coronavirus symptoms often are similar.
				It takes about two weeks for the antibodies from the flu vaccine to develop protection against infection, she said.

Luzerne County virus cases, positivity rate rising