Coronavirus Shakes up Pennsylvania, Schools, and Way of Life
Reviewed by David J. Carney, Vaccine Awareness Center Legal Advisor
Pennsylvania's social distancing efforts, designed to halt the spread of the coronavirus, are now in effect for Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties, Governor Wolf's office has stated. Social distancing is described by Johns Hopkins University as "a public health practice that aims to prevent sick people from coming in close contact with healthy people in order to reduce opportunities for disease transmission."
"If we can slow the spread of this virus ... we can keep an enormous number of Pennsylvanians from needing the kind of emergency treatment at the same time that's going to overwhelm our health care system," Wolf said. "Stay calm, stay home and stay safe."
The state has requested that all non-essential businesses close. Wolf's office asked that "business owners for non-essential services consider the well-being of their customers, staff and community when making a decision to close or remain open." Supermarkets, pharmacies, and gas stations will remain open.
Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties will close beginning Tuesday, March 17 until further notice.
To date, there are 41 presumptive positive cases and 6 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. The following Pennsylvania counties have cases of the coronavirus presently:
Allegheny (2)
Bucks (3)
Chester (2)
Cumberland (3)
Delaware (6)
Monroe (3)
Montgomery (20)
Northampton (1)
Philadelphia (4)
Pike (1)
Washington (1)
Wayne (1)
**Background and Spread of the Coronavirus**
The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new virus that causes respiratory illness in people and can spread from person-to-person. This virus was first identified during an investigation into an outbreak in Wuhan, China.
Symptoms of COVID-19 can include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure. Reported illnesses have ranged from people with little to no symptoms to people being severely ill and dying.
Human coronaviruses spread just like the flu or a cold:
- Through the air by coughing or sneezing;
- Close personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands;
- Touching an object or surface with the virus on it;
- Occasionally, fecal contamination
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