HARRISBURG, Pa. — The novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, continues to spread across the world. A map created by Johns Hopkins shows where the over 92,000 cases are located. According to its data, 117 of them are in the United States. As of Tuesday, the virus has not made its way into Pennsylvania.
While there are no reported cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, the state has started testing for the virus.
People can expect a quicker turn around for COVID-19 test results as the state begins testing. Health officials say, until now, all tests were being sent to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC lab in Atlanta. Now, tests are being sent to a lab in South Eastern Pennsylvania.
Health officials say, if the specimen is taken in the morning, people can expect results in the afternoon. If a sample is taken in the afternoon, people can expect results the next day. State officials say the goal is to work with the Food and Drug Administration or FDA to create commercial labs in local communities across Pennsylvania by next week. Health officials say they will not be releasing how many people have been tested for the virus so far out of concern for patients' privacy.
Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania's Secretary of Health, says it has spent in the ballpark of $200,000 in response to the virus. She says that cost is expected to increase over time. Health officials are hopeful the federal government will pass a law to help all states with expenses related to the outbreak.
"The Pennsylvania Department of Health has been working over the last month to monitor the situation in terms of COVID-19, and we are in full incident command mode with many different public health experts at our office of Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency monitoring the situation," said Dr. Levine. "We really don't know if there have been community spread here. There have been no confirmed cases. As we are seeing in the country, we will not be surprised in a positive test."
To put the COVID-19 outbreak into perspective, Dr. Levine says people are more likely to fall ill from the flu than from COVID-19. There has been 100,000 cases and 74 deaths from the flu in Pennsylvania so far this year. It's still active flu season.
Health experts say hand washing, covering your mouth when coughing and sneezing, and staying home when you're sick are still best practices to prevent the spread of any virus, including the novel coronavirus.
Levine says if a person thinks they have been exposed to COVID-19, they should contact their healthcare provider before showing up at the office or the emergency room.
For the latest information on COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, people can head to the state's website.