UPDATED: 2:02 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Pennsylvania officials reported 1,334 additional positive cases of COVID-19 Saturday, bringing the statewide total to 48,305.
As portions of the state prepare to go from red to yellow and cautiously reopen segments of their economies on May 8, Philadelphians will have to continue to stay at home and observe what happens in those areas. Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said the Department of Health has outlined the significant role of population density on the spread of the virus.
"Clearly, that is why our biggest city, Philadelphia, has had the most cases. That's clearly why New York City has been the most impacted city in the United States," she said.
Levine said her office will be looking at data this week to determine where the next regions where coronavirus-related restrictions will be relaxed.
"We're going to be looking at our metrics, the consultations from Carnegie-Mellon University," she explained. "We're looking to see if there are any changes this week in terms of case rates. We'll be working on our laboratory testing plans and our contact tracing plans in different counties."
But with so much emphasis on testing, some people who have been clinically diagnosed for coronavirus after receiving a negative test result have expressed concern.
"There are a couple of reasons why people could test negative," the secretary detailed. "If they have very mild symptoms, then it might be they don't have enough virus for us to detect. Some of it might be how the sample was obtained. We know that all tests have false negatives and false positives, although the tests that are being run now are actually very sensitive and specific. There are also other types of respiratory viruses and it's possible that they have one of those but we're watching those factors really carefully as we analyze our data."
Meanwhile, Levine reminded residents to keep up with social distancing measures.
"You need to remain six feet apart. If you're going to be in contact with other people on a hiking trail or on a walk, then you need to be wearing a mask," she advised.
Levine cautioned Pennsylvanians must be particularly vigilant as the weather gets nice and people are drawn outside.
"We cannot forget with the nice weather that we are still in the midst of a global pandemic," she said.
KYW Newsradio's Hadas Kuznits contributed to this story.
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