Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Contact 90.5 WESA with a story idea or news tip: news@wesa.fm

Pennsylvania Sees 38 More COVID-19 Deaths, 510 More Sickened

Keith Srakocic
/
AP
Mark Mawhinney cleans some of the merchandise in his "Music to My Ears" retail record and HiFi store, Thursday, May 14, 2020.

Ther were 38 more deaths in Pennsylvania have been attributed to COVID-19, the state Health Department said Tuesday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 6,464 since the pandemic began.

Among those deaths, 4,410 were residents or nursing homes or personal care facilities.

Officials said another 510 positive cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed, for a total of more than 82,000 during the past three-plus months.

The number of infections is thought to be far higher than the state’s confirmed case count because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected without feeling sick.

For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in a couple of weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems are at higher risk of more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.

In other coronavirus-related developments in Pennsylvania:

TRACING AND TESTING

Gov. Tom Wolf's administration said Tuesday that its most recent count shows about 518 contact tracers are in place to investigate and monitor the spread of infection.

Those tracers are following more than 4,000 contacts.

The Health Department said more than 2,700 cases were added to the investigation total during the week that ended Thursday.

The agency said it has been getting back nearly 14,000 test results per day over the past month.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.