PA's Official Coronavirus Death Count Drops By 201

HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania's official coronavirus death count dropped by 201 Thursday after state health officials further investigated the cases previously classified as probable.

"These cases were previously reported as probable but further review has determined that we needed more information before we could attribute them to a death related to COVID-19," said Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine, explaining the data during a Thursday afternoon news conference.

She said the statewide COVID-19 death toll now stands at 1,421. There are 36,665 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania. The 201 reduction in the death count "reflects that the probable deaths have been removed from the count because of further investigation," she explained.

Levine said the state began providing data on probable cases based on a definition used by the CDC. The CDC currently defines a probable case as:

• Meeting clinical criteria AND epidemiologic evidence with no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID-19; or
• Meeting presumptive laboratory evidence AND either clinical criteria OR epidemiologic evidence; or
• Meeting vital records criteria with no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID-19.

When a case is confirmed, it means that the patient has tested positive for the virus. Some cases may remain probable, because state health investigators may never be able to get a confirmed test in the event someone has died, Levine said.

The state is using the data for confirmed cases when making decisions to determine when certain regions may reopen.

"As we work to move regions of the state from red to yellow and eventually to green, we are looking at the confirmed counts," Levine said.

Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday unveiled a three-phased, color-coded system that will categorize the status of each region as the state moves to reopen. Regions will move from red to yellow to green based on number of confirmed cases, testing capabilities, hospital resources, and other factors.

Each phase — or color — has different social distancing and mitigation measures. Learn more here.