The Department of Health recorded 554 new deaths on Tuesday as it works to include data from the Philadelphia Health Department.

However the state also reported fewer than 1,000 new cases in the past two days, an encouraging sign that the virus spread could be slowing.

Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said that the deaths reported on Tuesday occurred over the past two weeks, and don’t reflect a single day’s data.

“The significant increase noted today is over two weeks and is a reconciliation of our data among a number of different sources, including working with the Philadelphia Health Department,” Levine said.

Trend?

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 865 new cases statewide of coronavirus on Tuesday. On Monday, there were 825 new cases. Levine said a lower number of reported cases is common on a Monday, but two days in a row could begin to signify a trend.

“We need to see if that trend continues because the numbers and data over time is the most important metric,” she said.

There have now been a total of 3,012 deaths in Pennsylvania attributed to the virus since mid-March.

Levine said the Governor’s office and Department of Health are working to change the reporting system so deaths in Philadelphia are reported more quickly. That will give a more accurate daily total of virus deaths.

The University of Washington model predicting virus deaths actually increased the predicted virus death total for Pennsylvania after Gov. Tom Wolf announced plans to reopen parts of the state. It is now predicted that Pennsylvania’s death total will be 8,600.

Nursing homes

Most of the deaths are still in elderly residents, particularly those living in nursing homes and personal care facilities. Nearly 70 percent of the state’s coronavirus deaths have occurred in patients in long-term care facilities.

Levine said the department is doing everything it can to protect those patients. She said that one of the biggest challenges with COVID-19 in nursing homes has been testing staff.

She said there are similar challenges in other settings where social distancing is challenging like prisons and food processing facilities.

“It’s an extremely trying situation with this very contagious respiratory virus in those types of settings with the patients who are at risk - seniors and seniors with chronic medical conditions,” Levine said.

The state lacks enough testing supplies to test each nursing home employee every day. Without providing specifics, Levine said that the Department of Health is planning some pilot programs to increase testing in nursing homes.

Her department has been working with nursing homes to increase the amount of information sharing between nursing homes and patients’ families. She said it’s the facility’s responsibility to communicate with family members, but acknowledged that they must improve.

“We understand that communication has not been as good as it should be. We’re trying to balance the privacy concerns and their legal right to privacy for the residents with the public’s right to know,” she said.

Levine said that health care workers with the Pennsylvania National Guard remain available for any nursing facility that needs it. She said she did not have data on the number of facilities where they are currently deployed.

Meanwhile, the capacity for testing the general public continues to increase.

Testing in Northeast

The Department of Health’s mass testing site in Wilkes-Barre Township has plenty of testing capacity for people who have symptoms of COVID-19.

Levine encouraged anyone experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19 to register to be tested at the site, which is located in the parking lot of Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

“We want more and more patients to get tested there. It has met our expectations but we want to exceed our expectations,” Levine said.

Testing at the site does not require a doctor’s order. Anyone can register for free by visiting health.pa.gov or calling 877-PA-HEALTH.

There is a list of COVID-19 symptoms available on the department’s website. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also has its own symptom checking tool.

Symptoms include but aren’t limited to fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, repeated shaking with chills, diarrhea, muscle pain, headache, significant sore throat or loss of smell.

Levine was asked about recent news that pharmaceutical companies are making progress with a possible vaccine, and with the treatment remdesivir.

Levine said she didn’t have any specific update on their use, but wished the researchers well.

She was also asked about the possibility of warm weather having an effect on the virus’s spread. Levine said there hasn’t been any evidence of that in Pennsylvania so far, but warm temperatures haven’t returned consistently at this point.

“There’s some evidence from other countries that the virus is transmitted less in warmer temperatures. We’ll have to see in the United States what we see, as we head into summer and warmer times,” Levine said.