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7th Coronavirus Victim In Pennsylvania In Critical Condition

NIAID-RML via AP

A Montgomery County resident has been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19, state officials said Monday.

The person, who is in critical condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is the seventh person in the state to test positive for the new coronavirus.

*This story will be updated.

The Department of Health hasn't released many details about the people who have tested positive, but said this latest person was exposed to it in another country.

A look at the latest developments in the spread of the new coronavirus in Pennsylvania:

WHAT WE KNOW

Of the seven people who the Department of Health has said tested positive, all are in eastern Pennsylvania. Five are residents of Montgomery County, three of whom were exposed to it in another country and two of whom were exposed while traveling inside the United States, officials say.

One is a resident of Delaware County who is said to have traveled to Boston and one is a resident of Wayne County who is said to have traveled extensively in Europe, including to countries where COVID-19 is widespread.

The first six people who tested positive are in home isolation with mild symptoms, officials have said.

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WHAT WE DON'T KNOW

The Department of Health is not saying how many samples it is testing, how many negative tests it has taken or how many people it is monitoring under quarantine.

At least three medical personnel who treated people who tested positive have also been quarantined, newspapers have reported.

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TESTING

The state has a lab in Exton, in suburban Philadelphia, that can make use of new equipment to boost its capacity to test up to 150 people a day from up to 25 people a day.

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STOPPING THE SPREAD

The Central Bucks School District reopened five schools Monday that it abruptly closed Friday. The schools were cleaned and people who came into contact with an out-of-state resident who tested positive for COVID-19 have all tested negative for the virus, county officials said.

Meanwhile, Germantown Academy in Montgomery County is closing its campus through March 29, the end of spring break. The school informed parents of the more than 1,000 students of the decision Sunday, saying that one of the people from the county who tested positive is a family member of a Germantown Academy student.

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