PENNSYLVANIA, USA — It's no secret, the Novel Coronavirus outbreak in the United States is getting worse by the day. There are more than 800 confirmed or presumed-positive cases of the deadly virus all over the country, and at least 28 people have died so far.
Pennsylvania is not one of the worst-infected states in the U.S.; neighboring New Jersey and New York are experiencing dramatically worse cases than the Keystone State.
Despite this, there are still 12 presumed-positive cases of Covid-19 in the Eastern half of the state. No cases have been confirmed in South-Central Pennsylvania, but the area is rattled by fears of a local outbreak and schools, businesses, and religious organizations are taking serious measures to prevent one.
The Palmyra Area School District conducted a thorough cleansing of all six buildings on Monday night, after learning one of its middle school students may have been exposed to the Coronavirus. That student began a voluntary 14-day quarantine, but when it turned out the student was not exposed to the virus, he came out of it Tuesday.
Over in Chester County, officials with West Chester University sent out a letter to the school community notifying everyone that in-person classes are canceled for the remainder of the semester. For the rest of the school year, students will finish their coursework via "alternative modes of instruction" such as online courses.
All classes at West Chester University are postponed until the end of March, to give faculty time to prepare to teach those classes online.
The outbreak is also having an impact on popular sports in South-Central Pennsylvania.
The Hershey Bears hockey team in Dauphin County announced Tuesday it is canceling all public appearances by players until further notice. The decision was made via a recommendation from the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League.
Other major league sports organizations are limiting locker room access to only players and essential staff as well.
Coatesville High School was supposed to host a playoff basketball game involving the Lower Merion Aces Wednesday night, but Coatesville backed out after the Lower Merion School District learned its students may have been exposed to the Coronavirus as well. That game will now be played at Milton Hershey.
All Lower Merion School District schools were closed Monday as crews disinfect them. More than half of patients in PA presumed-positive for Covid-19 are in Montgomery County.
Churches are also taking extra precautions to protect their parishioners. "We have king of taken the approach we want to be absolutely prepared, but we don't to panic" Pastor Beau Eckert of the Calvary Church in Manheim Township, Lancaster County told FOX43.
"People are doing the fist bump or the elbow bump and what not, and so if that's what they feel most comfortable with or we're totally fine with."
With as many as 3,000 parishioners attending one of the church's services every week, the potential for contamination is very high. The church is cleanings its pews more frequently and it has doubled its hand sanitizer stations.
Pastor Eckert also told people to stay at home, if they don't feel well, reminding them they can watch a live stream of the service.
While the number of people who have contracted the Coronavirus is rising worldwide, most patients recover from it.
At the time this article was written, there were approximately 118,101 infections, and according to Johns Hopkins University approximately 64,391 of those people have recovered from Covid-19. That's a recovery rate of 54.97%.
A doctor from Wellspan Health says what may be unclear is how long it takes for person to recover. ""a person gets sick, how long do they spill that germ to get other people sick?" Dr. Sean Campbell told FOX43, "I don't think the answer is known for that one. They've picked 14 days. So they've been isolating those folks for 14 days. I guess that is what their data is showing, at the 14 day mark most if not all people are non-infectious at that point."
Breaking down the numbers in the U.S., eight out of 808 patients have recovered so far, but the virus has only been in the country for the last few weeks. China has the worst of it and has seen a nationwide outbreak that dwarfs the rest of the world, and has a 74.41% recovery rate as of Tuesday evening.
So far, the infection rate of the Novel Coronavirus is much more prominent than previous strains of the Coronavirus. It's particularly difficult to spot in the early stages, because most people who come down with it often don't notice symptoms until after a few weeks.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms of Covid-19 include a fever, cough, and shortness of breath; similar to the flu.
Anyone who has come in contact with someone with Covid-19, but isn't showing symptoms, should self-quarantine for two weeks. If anyone tests positive, they will be put in isolation.
"If someone is sick with COVID-19 they are in isolation at home or at a hospital receiving medical care," said Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine. "If someone is quarantined, they have been exposed to someone who has Covid-19 and they are at home to limit their exposure to the rest of the community."
The concerns surrounding a possible outbreak are having a positive effect for people in the cleaning business. The Professional Cleaning Group in Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County is seeing a rising demand for cleaning products and services. Items like Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer to fly off of shelves, and it's responding to special requests.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, noting the rising prices of high-demand items used to combat or protect people from the Coronavirus, has established a price-gouging reporting tool.
“As Pennsylvania continues to manage the spread of the coronavirus, merchants should be put on notice: you cannot use a public health emergency as a business opportunity,” said Attorney General Shapiro.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 1,100 points on Tuesday, coming off of a historic loss on Monday when it lost more than 2,000 points; the worst loss for DJIA since the 2008 financial crisis. There's no guarantee it will end anytime soon, as the outbreak continues to spread and an ongoing crude oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia fuels fears and selloffs on Wall Street.
President Trump has reportedly floated the temporary elimination of the payroll tax in order to boost the economy. Other proposals in the White House include emergency cash funding for small businesses struggling amid the Coronavirus outbreak, and even offering paid sick leave for workers so they can stay at home.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf issued a disaster declaration on Friday in order to mobilize resources and coordinate state agencies to tackle the outbreak. A Coronavirus Command Center is set up in the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency's headquarters in Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County.