Virus Death Toll Tops 2,440 in Pennsylvania

There were 26 new deaths associated with the coronavirus in Pennsylvania, bringing the total in the commonwealth to 2,444, state officials said Sunday.

Officials also announced Sunday that the number of positive cases in the state topped 49,000.

Most hospitalizations and deaths have occurred in patients 65 or older. Of the total deaths, 1,635 have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities.

The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick. There is no data on how many people have recovered.

For most people, it 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.

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STAY-AT-HOME PROTEST

Hundreds of protesters chanted and carried signs outside the home of Pennsylvania's governor to protest his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and call for an end to restrictions on business activity.

The York Daily Record reports that 100 to 200 people paced along the street Saturday afternoon outside Gov. Tom Wolf's house in York, repeatedly chanting “open up” toward the house. Members of the governor's security team wouldn't comment on whether Wolf was home.

“Open the doors as of Monday,” Joyce Cordell of Hamlin, Wayne County said from a motorized cart. “It’s not right to keep us closed up.”

Her county was not among the two dozen among the state's 67 counties that will have some restrictions eased May 8, although it had 105 cases and a handful of deaths.

“I am here to help my daughter and all of these people get back to work,” Cordell said. “I support my fellow Americans in getting life back to some kind of normal.”

Karen Bosco, a 62-year-old retired safety consultant from York Haven, said the governor is “killing small business."