The death toll from coronavirus in Pennsylvania continues to rise, as some experts have predicted it will peak next week. But state health officials are reluctant to say how long it will be until we see a significant decline in the number of deaths per day.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced 78 deaths on Friday, bringing the state’s total to 416. There have been 254 virus deaths statewide recorded since Monday.

During a daily press briefing, Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said she’s aware of predictions from the University of Washington that the nation will see a peak in deaths on April 12.

But Levine said she’s reluctant to predict that the virus will reach its deadly peak in Pennsylvania until it actually happens.

“As Dr. Fauci said, the virus determines the timeline, we don’t determine the timeline. We’re going to be watching the statistics very closely especially over the next few weeks,” she said.

Department of Health announced 1,751 new cases on Friday, bringing the total to 19,979. Carbon County now has 93 cases, with three deaths. Lehigh County now has 1,562 cases with 16 deaths. Monroe County now has 752 cases with 19 deaths. Northampton County now has 994 cases with 21 deaths. Schuylkill County now has recorded 164 cases and one death.

Levine said this week’s high death total is the result of people who have been ill for some time, and have tragically succumbed to the virus.

She said once again that Pennsylvania’s stay at home order, as well as school and business closures have been effective.

The number of new cases is increasing at a slower rate than it would have if the measures weren’t in place, she said.

That means they are accomplishing the stated goal of avoiding an overwhelming surge from hitting hospitals around the state.

“That has not followed the exponential rise we talked about, it has been following a more linear curve. All of that is in our favor - it indicates that as the surge comes and passes, all of our hospitals and health systems will be able to cope,” she said.

Levine said she believes that different counties around the state will see the number of cases and deaths peak at different times.

She warned that rural areas are still not in the clear, despite them seeing much lower case totals than areas like Philadelphia. While rural counties have less population density, they could still be hit hard if social distancing efforts are relaxed.

“Rural areas aren’t off the hook - if there was an outbreak in a rural area it could spread quickly and cause a public health threat,” Levine said.

Levine said the state’s hospitals and health systems continue to do a good job acquiring and managing resources to fight the virus.

Department of Health continues to receive and distribute medical equipment. They have distributed 1.8 million N95 masks, 136,000 hospital gowns, 912,000 hospital masks, 730,000 pairs of gloves, and 147,000 face shields.

“We are still working to acquire additional materials from federal stockpiles and many other sources in Pennsylvania and the country,” she said.

Earlier this week Wolf signed an executive order allowing his administration to take medical supplies from one hospital or health care facility and divert it to another if needed to fight COVID-19.

Also on Friday, Gov. Tom Wolf announced a loan program for hospitals to help shore up their finances until the pandemic ends and normal operations can resume.

The $450 million program will allow hospitals to purchase personal protective equipment and other supplies needed to fight the virus, Wolf said.

“We cannot allow any of our hospitals to become bankrupt. When this pandemic finally ends we’re going to need our hospitals to care for our regular medical needs like heart attacks and broken bones,” Wolf said.