Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Rachel Levine warned Pennsylvania residents Thursday that the number of coronavirus cases continue to rise statewide.

“The number of positive cases has skyrocketed since the beginning of the problem,” Wolf said. Levine revealed hard data to support the governor’s claim.

“As of midnight yesterday, 560 new cases have been reported across 48 counties,” Levine said. “The day before we had 276 patients who tested positive.”

Monroe County leads the area with 67 cases and two deaths. Northampton has 56 cases and three deaths. Lehigh County has 63 cases and one death. Schuylkill County has six cases, and Carbon County has increased to two cases.

Levine broke down the numbers to indicate the spread of the virus is affecting people of different age groups. Of the new cases reported, 39% are of patients in the 25-49 age group. For people 65 and older, the number is 68% of the total number of 1,687, in which 46% are patients over 65 who have pre-existing health problems. She did, however, say that 16,441 of those tested were negative.

Levine also reported that 16 people have died from the virus in the state since March 6, and 56 patients have required intensive care treatment.

Wolf urged all Pennsylvanians of the need to work together to stop the spread. Although state hospitals have an adequate supply of masks, ventilators and other necessary items, he warned that if the increase in cases continues, there will be “capacity issues” very soon in hospitals and health care centers across the state.

“We have injected $50 million into our health care system, and federal assistance is available, too,” said Wolf, “but we have no idea about how bad this will get or when it will end.”

He added that if needed, the state is ready to utilize hotels and other large areas to set up hospital beds.

Currently, the state has over 600,000 masks, 380,000 pairs of gloves and plenty of hospital gowns available to health care workers.

Wolf stressed the need for social distancing to continue. Although the state has no statistics about the effectiveness of quarantining and isolating, Levine pointed to California and the state of Washington where officials have seen a slight decline in new cases since the social distance order was put into effect.

“We must act as if we all have it,” said Wolf, referring to the fact that carriers of the virus can be asymptomatic for up to 14 days. “It’s not a battle. It’s a war.”

Recently, Wolf extended the closure of all Pennsylvania schools until April 6 in an effort to keep the virus from spreading even further.

On the topic of unemployment claims, Wolf stated that 650,000 people have filed with a projection of 800,000 in the upcoming weeks.

“We are working hard to process all these claims,” he said.

Both Wolf and Levine fielded questions from the media during the news conference. Levine addressed a concern about an employee of an essential business who is waiting up to 14 days for coronavirus test results and the subsequent anxieties felt by the employee’s co-workers.

Levine replied, “The employers of the business need to address this concern with all their employees and determine the best course of action.”

She reminded everyone of the importance of washing hands, covering coughs and sneezes with elbows, and cleaning surfaces in the home several times a day to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Levine praised the communication system the state has with local municipalities that is updating residents with the latest health issues and closures.

Wolf said that his team looks at the county-by-county case numbers reported every day to help him determine if he should enforce additional stay-at-home orders.

“It’s not a one-size-fits all answer,” said Wolf with regard to imposing a blanket order to stay at home.

There remains some confusion about what is essential and what is not. Wolf fielded a media question that was directed by a construction company about safety concerns regarding an unfinished building project.

“If there is a concern about the safety of neighbors to the construction site,” said Wolf, “then do what needs to be done to secure the site.”

Levine ended the conference with a plea to all Pennsylvanians.

“Stay calm. Stay at home. Stay safe.”