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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; Gov. Tom Wolf Monday said the fall resurgence of COVID-19 is here and he made &ldquo;a plea&rdquo; to &ldquo;double-down&rdquo; to keep everyone safe.
				&ldquo;And while we must always take this deadly virus seriously, now is the time for all of us to double down on our efforts to keep ourselves and those around us safe,&rdquo; Wolf said during a news conference with Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve seen what happens when masks aren&rsquo;t worn and social distancing isn&rsquo;t practiced &mdash; people get sick, so we need to stay vigilant and work together to stop the spread of COVID-19.&rdquo;
				The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Monday confirmed 45 new cases of COVID-19 in Luzerne County and no new deaths.
				That brings the total number of confirmed cases in the county to 4,748; the death count remains at 190.
				Neighboring Lackawanna County has 3,314 cases &mdash; an increase of 24 over Sunday &mdash; and 217 deaths; Monroe County has 1,938 cases and 134 deaths.
				The Department of Health confirmed that there were 2,372 additional positive cases over two days &mdash; 1,103 new cases on Monday and 1,269 new cases reported on Sunday, bringing the statewide total to 183,315.
				As the predicted fall resurgence of COVID-19 becomes more evident in Pennsylvania and across the country, Gov. Wolf and Secretary Levine presented an update on the COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard and case data, and asked Pennsylvanians to unite against COVID.
				Last week, Dr. Levine introduced the team of public health experts leading the work to make sure all Pennsylvanians are as protected as possible from both COVID-19 and influenza. Levine said the team is prepared for the resurgence, is managing a robust testing plan, preparing for vaccine distribution when a vaccine is available, and working to track influenza (flu) cases across the state.
				&ldquo;Our data, including case counts, hospitalizations and percent positivity reflect the fall resurgence occurring,&rdquo; Secretary Levine said. &ldquo;The department and the Wolf Administration are working continuously to ensure we are prepared for this resurgence and to protect Pennsylvanians. We all must unite to protect ourselves and loved ones from COVID-19 by washing our hands, wearing a mask, social distancing, avoiding large gatherings and downloading the COVID Alert PA app.&rdquo;
				Dr. Levine also presented the latest data from the state&rsquo;s COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard, which tracks the level of community transmission as a basis for the recommendations for Pre-K to 12 schools to determine instructional models; data on cases among 5-18-year-olds; cases that reported visiting a business among potential locations where exposures may have occurred; and updated travel recommendations.
				The dashboard is designed to provide early warning signs of factors that affect the state&rsquo;s mitigation efforts. The data available on the early warning monitoring 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.
				This week&rsquo;s update compares the period of Oct. 9 to Oct. 15 to the previous seven days, Oct. 2-8.
				As of Thursday, Oct. 15, the state has seen a seven-day case increase of 8,723 &mdash; the previous seven-day increase was 7,398, indicating a 1,325-case increase across the state over the past week.
				The statewide percent-positivity went up to 4.3% from 3.9% last week.
				&ldquo;COVID is tough, but together, Pennsylvanians are tougher,&rdquo; Gov. Wolf said. &ldquo;The last seven and a half months have shown us that when we unite, we can defeat this virus. Pennsylvanians came together to stop COVID in its tracks and we can do it again and stop this fall resurgence in its tracks if we stand united against COVID.
				&ldquo;You matter, and so do your actions. When we make good choices and follow health and safety measures, we see results. Let&rsquo;s work together to stop the spread.&rdquo;
				The statewide percent-positivity went up to 4.3% from 3.9% last week.
				Counties with concerning percent-positivity include: Huntingdon (9.9%), Westmoreland (8.9%), Bradford (8.3%), Lackawanna (8.2%), Lebanon (8.2%), Perry (8.2%), Elk (7.9%), Susquehanna (7.1%), Bedford (6.8%), Berks (6.5%), Lawrence (6.4%), Luzerne (6.0%), Schuylkill (5.9%), Dauphin (5.7%), Armstrong (5.6%), Centre (5.6%), Tioga (5.5%), Carbon (5.1%), Indiana (5.1%), Montour (5.0%), Blair (5.0%), Each of these counties bears watching as the state continues to monitor all available data.
				Community transmission
				As of Friday&rsquo;s data, Berks, Blair, Bradford, Centre, Huntingdon, Lackawanna, Lebanon, Montour, Schuylkill, Union and Westmoreland counties were in the substantial level of community transmission. The departments of Education and Health will speak with school district representatives in these counties to discuss the implications of this level of transmission.
				For the week ending Oct. 15, 10 counties were in the low level of transmission, 46 counties in the moderate level, with 11 with substantial transmission:
				Low: Cameron, Clinton, Forest, Fulton, Greene, Juniata, Pike, Potter, Sullivan, Warren,
				Moderate: Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Bucks, Butler, Cambria, Carbon, Chester, Clarion, Clearfield, Columbia, Crawford, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Elk, Erie, Fayette, Franklin, Indiana, Jefferson, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Mifflin, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Philadelphia, Snyder, Somerset, Susquehanna, Tioga, Venango, Washington, Wayne, Wyoming, York
				Substantial: Berks, Blair, Bradford, Centre, Huntingdon, Lackawanna, Lebanon, Montour, Schuylkill, Union, Westmoreland
				Cases among 5-18-year-olds
				The Department of Health is providing weekly data on the number of statewide cases of COVID-19 among 5 to 18-year-olds.
				Throughout the pandemic, there have been 12,162 total cases of COVID-19 among 5 to 18-year-olds. Of that total, 991 occurred between Oct. 9-15. For the week of Oct. 2- 8, there were 1,004 cases of COVID-19 among 5 to 18-year-olds.
				Business visits
				The Department of Health is providing weekly data on the number of individuals who responded to case investigators that they spent time at business establishments (restaurants, bars, gym/fitness centers, salon/barbershops) and at mass gatherings 14 days prior to the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.
				Of the 8,580 confirmed cases reported between Oct. 4 and Oct. 10, 33 percent (2,820) provided an answer to the question as to whether they spent time at a business establishment.
				Of those who did provide an answer, 17.2 percent, or 484, answered yes, they visited a business establishment 14 days prior to onset of symptoms:
				&#8226; 50 percent (243) of those who said yes reported going to a restaurant.
				&#8226; 26 percent (125) of those who said yes reported going to some other business establishment.
				&#8226; 14.3 percent (69) of those who said yes reported going to a bar.
				&#8226; 13 percent (64) of those who said yes reported going to a gym/fitness center.
				&#8226; 8 percent (38) of those who said yes reported going to a salon/barbershop.
				Of the 8,580 confirmed cases, 33 percent (2,822) answered the question as to whether they attended a mass gathering or other large event. Of the 33 percent, 16.3 percent (424) answered yes to whether they attended a mass gathering or other large event 14 days prior to onset of symptoms.
				Travel recommendations
				Also today, the Department of Health updated its travel recommendations, originally announced on July 2, to remove Texas from the list of states recommended for domestic travelers returning from to quarantine for 14 days upon return to Pennsylvania.
				A concerning number of recent cases have been linked to travel, and if people are going to travel, we need them to take steps to protect themselves, their loved ones and their community, and that involves quarantining.
				Out of our total deaths, 5,609 have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities.
				Approximately 11,697 of our total cases are among health care workers.

Wolf, Levine ask public to unite against COVID