Jobless claims swamp Pennsylvania amid rise in virus cases
Mark Scolforo | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 7 months AGO
Wright Center resident Dr. Masuma Khawaja helps unbox food during the COVID-19 Emergency Drive-Through Food Giveaway hosted by The Wright Center for Community Health, Friends of the Poor, Family to Family Food Basket Program, the Commission on Economic Opportunity, and the Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank in Jermyn, Pa., on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. (Jake Danna Stevens/The Times-Tribune via AP)
A Costco employee, right, looks towards a shopper wearing a mask and snorkel to go shopping, as she sanitizes carts that are returned from the parking lot to help reduce the spread of coronavirus, in King of Prussia, Pa., Wednesday, March 25, 2020. (Michael Bryant/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
A woman, wearing a facemask to protect against the coronavirus, waits in line during an emergency food distribution at Keystone Mission in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Wednesday, March 25, 2020. (Sean McKeag/The Citizens' Voice via AP)
A bicyclist rides past a pile of trash in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Wednesday morning sanitation workers refused to collect the regularly scheduled trash pickup, expressing concerns that there were not enough safety measures in place to protect workers from potential exposure to COVID-19. The workers demanded protective equipment and hazard pay. The city anticipates normal garbage pickup to resume on Thursday. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Wright Center resident Dr. Trevor Gill packs bags of food during the COVID-19 Emergency Drive-Through Food Giveaway hosted by The Wright Center for Community Health, Friends of the Poor, Family to Family Food Basket Program, the Commission on Economic Opportunity, and the Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank in Jermyn, Pa., on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. (Jake Danna Stevens/The Times-Tribune via AP)
Andy O'Brien prepares to make food deliveries for Meals on Wheels of NEPA in Scranton, Pa., on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Meals on Wheels of NEPA has increased the amount of food and decreased the about of times they bring the food to recipients to protect their workers and recipients of the free meals from COVID-19. (Jake Danna Stevens/The Times-Tribune via AP)
A patron picks up a sandwich from a drive-thru window at a shop where the indoor dining area is closed in efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, Wednesday, March 18, 2020, in Evans City, Pa. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Cameron Mezzacapo, 7, gets a push from his mother, Milynn Mezzacapo, while learning to ride a bike, Wednesday, March 25, 2020, near their home in the Evergreen Farms development in Fairview Township, Pa. Milynn Mezzacapo said the extra time at home motivated them. "We finally have the time and the weather is nice," she said. (Christopher Millette/Erie Times-News via AP)
City of Pittsburgh sanitation trucks sit idle Wednesday, March 25, 2020 outside the Environmental Services buildings in Pittsburgh. Wednesday morning sanitation workers refused to collect the regularly scheduled trash pickup, expressing concerns that there were not enough safety measures in place to protect workers from potential exposure to COVID-19. The workers demanded protective equipment and hazard pay. The city anticipates normal garbage pickup to resume on Thursday. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
People, standing several feet of distance from each other as an extra precaution out of concern about the spread of the coronavirus, wait in line to receive donated food and educational materials at the John H. Webster Elementary School in Philadelphia, Thursday, March 26, 2020. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration reported more coronavirus-related deaths in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Residents are ordered to stay home, with few exceptions. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A woman and children walk away from the John H. Webster Elementary School carrying donated food and educational materials, in Philadelphia, Thursday, March 26, 2020. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration reported more coronavirus-related deaths in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Residents are ordered to stay home, with few exceptions. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Tire shop owner M. Hernandez, wearing a protective face mask, waits for customers outside his shop in Philadelphia, Thursday, March 26, 2020. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration reported more new coronavirus-related deaths in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Residents are ordered to stay home, with few exceptions. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Terrell Bell, wearing a protective face mask, looks at a learning guide he picked up for his little sister at John H. Webster Elementary School in Philadelphia, Thursday, March 26, 2020. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration reported more new coronavirus-related deaths in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Residents are ordered to stay home, with few exceptions. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A woman carries a box of donated food and educational materials that she picked up at John H. Webster Elementary School in Philadelphia, Thursday, March 26, 2020. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration reported more new coronavirus-related deaths in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Residents are ordered to stay home, with few exceptions. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania rose by 50% to more than 1,600 cases, while record numbers of state residents filed for unemployment compensation, Gov. Tom Wolf's administration said Thursday.
The state Department of Health said five more people died over the past 24 hours, bringing the state's death toll to 16.
Pennsylvanians have filed about 650,000 unemployment compensation claims over the past 11 days as the coronavirus has spread and thousands of businesses closed or laid off employees.
In coronavirus-related developments in Pennsylvania:
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CASES
The Health Department said there were 560 new cases, and the 1,680 total cases are in 48 of the state's 67 counties.
Health Secretary Rachel Levine has said she expects a surge of patients in the coming weeks, with cases doubling every two to three days. The Wolf administration is putting a strong emphasis on buying time to help get the state's health care system ready for that growing flood of patients, Levine said.
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JOBLESS CLAIMS
The single highest day for unemployment compensation claims, going back to March 15, was Friday, when more than 90,000 people filed claims.
That was the day after Wolf unveiled an order for “non-life-sustaining” businesses to shut down in an effort to help stop the spread of the virus.
Even before that order, unemployment compensation filings in Pennsylvania and many other states had skyrocketed, underscoring how many businesses had already closed or shed workers.
In the seven days through Saturday, Pennsylvanians filed about 379,000 claims, smashing the record for an entire week in the state.
In the four days since then, Pennsylvanians have filed another 271,000, putting the state on course to break last week's record.
A review of weekly data going back to 1987 shows a high of 61,000 in early 2010, when the effects of the Great Recession were taking hold.
In February, when Pennsylvania's unemployment rate was 4.7%, a household survey estimated that nearly 6.25 million people were working or looking for work, while 309,000 were unemployed.
In perhaps the biggest single layoff, the Greater Philadelphia YMCA told the state it was letting go of 3,400 employees effective last Friday. In an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, president and CEO Shaun Elliot said he fully intends to reopen the non-profit's branches once it is allowed by the state.
Elliott said the organization's revenue had dropped “precipitously” when gyms and daycare centers were required to close to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Employees will be paid through April 5 and will be compensated for accrued and unused vacation days, he said.
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REMOTE EDUCATION
Pennsylvania schools that have been closed for nearly two weeks face a new challenge — legislation requiring them to "make a good faith effort" to continue to educate children.
Schools have to submit their plans to the state Education Department, and it's already causing some to consider creative approaches, according to Mark DiRocco, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators.
Among ideas being floated, he said, are to have school bus drivers deliver instructional materials along their normal routes, or to fire up Wi-Fi at school buildings so families without internet connections can download material from the parking lot.
The law, which passed both legislative chambers late Wednesday, will be signed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in the coming days, his spokeswoman said.
It directs the Education Department to provide guidance to all school entities, and the department has previously said there are options. Schools can go forward with "planned instruction," teaching new material much as they were before the COVID-19 shutdown.
They may also do "enrichment and review," consisting of more informal lessons that "reinforce or extend" what they were previously taught.
Either way, the agency has said, schools have to address all students' needs, including those with disabilities and children whose first language is not English.
In Philadelphia, the district hopes to purchase 50,000 computer notebooks to distribute to needy students. Only half the district's high school students have both a laptop or tablet and a sufficient internet connection to work from home.
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COUGHING ON GROCERIES
A woman accused of coughing on produce, meat and bakery items while claiming she was infected with COVID-19 was charged Thursday and jailed on $50,000 bail.
Police near Wilkes-Barre accused 35-year-old Margaret Ann Cirko of criminal mischief, making terroristic threats and other offenses.
The store owner told the Times-Leader newspaper that $35,000 in inventory was lost Wednesday afternoon.
Charging documents allege that Cirko said, "I have the virus. Now everyone is going to get sick." At one point, the complaint said, Cirko vomited on produce.
No lawyer who could comment for Cirko was listed in court documents. Police said Cirko was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation.
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MEDICAL RESOURCES
Health officials are working on a guide for doctors to address medical shortages and the best use of resources if the number of hospital patients surges, as anticipated.
Health Secretary Rachel Levine said the state is not implementing a triage policy, instead referring to it as crisis standards of care.
"There's no specific decisions about who gets treated or doesn't get treated, if that’s the implication," Levine said at a news briefing.
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Lauer and AP writer Maryclaire Dale contributed from Philadelphia. Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
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