HARRISBURG – The Wolf Administration today confirmed the state’s first COVID-19-related death, an adult from Northampton County. This individual was being treated at a hospital.
Statewide, officials say there are 133 cases of COVID-19 reported from commercial, hospital and state labs. There are 1,187 patients who have tested negative. County-specific information and a statewide map are available here.
The Disease Control and Prevention Act protects the right to privacy and confidentiality of Pennsylvanians, so at this time, there is no additional information available about the patient.
Gov. Tom Wolf made the following statement with a “heavy heart” from his home in York County.
“This is the first death for the novel coronavirus in Pennsylvania … I bring you this news because it demonstrates the severity of COVID-19. In under two weeks, more than 130 cases of COVID-19 have been identified within our borders.
“And the spread of COVID-19 across our commonwealth is increasing at an exponential pace. When we first became aware of COVID-19, we’d hoped that we could prevent its spread like we have with other diseases in the past, but unfortunately COVID-19 has characteristics that make it difficult to control.
“We know it can be transmitted person-to-person through simple contact, and it lives on surfaces for lengthy periods of time. That is why it is essential to keep as many Pennsylvanians as possible away from each other.
“With the knowledge of how quickly and easily this disease spreads, I ask all Pennsylvanians to stay home. As the number of cases grew, I made the difficult decision to strongly urge non-essential businesses across the state to close for at least 14 days to help mitigate the spread while ordering all restaurants and bars to close their dine-in facilities.
“As a businessperson and a father, this was an incredibly difficult decision for me to make. I understand the importance of providing for your family, but everyday that goes by that people continue to freely interact is a day that the virus continues to unknowingly infect more and more people.
“Today is just the first death of what will become many, and our only hope is to keep our hospitals from being overwhelmed, so our medical professionals can do the most they can. We need businesses to follow our guidance and heed our mitigation efforts if we want to save lives.
“We need to stay home if we want to save lives. We need to work together if we want to save lives. I believe that Pennsylvanians are a great people, and that all of us – together – will step up and do our part to get through this crisis.”