PA Officials Warn Against Thanksgiving Gatherings As Cases Rise

PENNSYLVANIA — With coronavirus cases rising to their highest rate in Pennsylvania since the pandemic began, health officials are recommending that residents not gather with family members outside their households for Thanksgiving and the holidays.

While some mass gatherings have become superspreader events, the virus is frequently transmitted in relatively small gatherings, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine reiterated Monday.

"We're asking people to not get together with loved ones and their friends ... and to stay in their households for holidays and holidays gatherings," she said. "I know that's really difficult."

Similar guidance has been issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and other leading infectious disease experts. Beyond the threats posed by small indoor gatherings, increased travel around the holidays to attend celebrations is another means of exposure.

Coronavirus metrics are up across the board in Pennsylvania, in counties across the state, which Levine adds is an unavoidable consequence of nationwide rates spiking at almost identical levels.

The statewide percent positivity rate on all tests is now up to 7 percent, from 6 percent last week, meaning that the increase in cases is not just due to an increase in testing, officials said.

The Department of Health reported 3,402 new cases Monday, the second-highest total since the pandemic began. That comes just days after the all-time single-day record in the state Saturday, which saw 4,035 new cases.

"This is a sober outlook on our reality," Levine said. "This is a call to action for everyone in Pennsylvania ... COVID-19 is right here, and we're at a critical point."

Hospitalization rates have risen steadily as well, with 1,735 hospitalized, an increase over the 1,267 hospitalized last week. No hospitals are presently pressed for resources, and ICU beds are not at capacity; but threat of pushing the health care system beyond its limit, the worst-case scenario that was darkly forecast back in the spring, has re-emerged.

A positive note: The death rate is not nearly as high as it was in the spring, and cases have largely been kept out of long-term care facilities, where fatality rates had soared. However, officials say that it will be impossible to keep seniors in these facilities safe if the surrounding communities continue to see cases skyrocket.

The fall surge has been building for weeks in Pennsylvania, after cases plummeted in the summer. Officials are unclear of how it will progress next.

"We don't know how long the resurgence is going to last, but we don't think it's peaked yet," Levine said.

No new mandates or restrictions have been put in place, besides the existing mask order and other official guidance given to businesses and schools. Stopping the fall surge is a simple matter of mask wearing and social distancing, officials continue to reiterate.

Statewide, 234,296 people have been infected with COVID-19, and 73 percent have recovered.