Over the past few weeks, the Department of Health has continued to tweak the reporting of deaths from the coronavirus.

On Monday, Gov. Tom Wolf said the state will now employ the Electronic Death Registration System to delineate the numbers of deaths from the coronavirus.

The breakdown of both the death counts and the number of positive cases has been under scrutiny, but both Wolf and Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine believe that the system will provide specific locations of deaths associated with the virus and also identify the race, ethnicity, gender, age and comorbidity of COVID-19 patients.

Determining location

Wolf and Levine addressed the issue of nursing home death counts.

“If a patient in a nursing home or long-term care facility dies, the death will be reported not as occurring in the facility location, but rather as a residence location from where the patient had lived,” Levine said. “This is a very challenging process,” she added. “We want to be completely transparent and clear with our counts.”

Levine again said that county coroner numbers may be different from the state counts because where the patient dies will be the location listed on the death certificate and not the home residence.

National Guard steps in

Wolf commended the statewide assistance provided by the National Guard, especially at nursing home and long-term care facilities. Twelve hundred service members have been employed in the four corners of the state to aid in medical operations, including the testing of 12,000 residents and the training of staff at 13 long-term care sites. They have also distributed 90,000 meals to families who have been economically devastated by the pandemic.

“We live here, train here and serve here,” said Guard Col. Frank Montgomery. “We are proud to help take care of our citizens.”

‘The people of this are the experts’

Wolf was questioned about the compliance of the public in counties that have moved to yellow zones.

“Pittsburgh is now in the yellow and there are very few people walking the city,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s the people of this state are the experts in controlling the spread of the virus and the lowering the case numbers and because they have been staying home, we have cut the case rate in half, including the saving of 7,000 lives in Philadelphia.”

Wolf questioned the opening of beaches in Delaware and Maryland where social distancing is difficult to manage.

“I don’t understand why the governors would open them,” he said. “I wouldn’t go to the beach.”

He also warned that with the opening of gyms, “there is too much risk of getting sick” and that these business owners are putting their customers in harm’s way.

Wolf said that curbside retail, similar to curbside restaurant pickup orders, is appropriate and he also gave his approval on a NASCAR race scheduled at the end of June at Pocono Raceway that will be held with no fans in attendance.

The numbers update

Levine reported 822 new COVID-19 cases brought the state total to 63,056. Long-term care and nursing home cases numbered 13,6267. The current death count is 4,505.

She said the numbers of patients recovering from the virus have not been factored, but the department hopes to have that report sometime next week. This week the state will break down specific nursing home deaths.

On Monday, Carbon County is reporting 214 cases, with 22 deaths. Thirteen of those deaths are in long-term care facilities.

Lehigh County has 3,470 cases. The death total is 173, with 110 in long-term care facilities.

Luzerne County is reporting six new cases for a total of 2,532. The death total is 122, with 96 in long-term care facilities.

Monroe County added five cases and now has 1,259 positives. The death total is 88, with 35 in long-term care facilities.

Northampton County added 24 positive cases and now has 2,727. The death total is 171, with 96 in long-term care facilities.

Schuylkill County added four cases for a total of 529 positive cases. The death total is 20, with four in long-term care facilities.

ATV trails open early

Trails through Pennsylvania state forests that all-terrain vehicles can use will be opening a bit early this year to limit crowds during the first-day rush.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources said the trails will open on Tuesday, three days earlier than normal.

The agency also announced that Tuesday will be opening day for motorcycle trails in Bald Eagle State Forest.

All-terrain vehicles can use state forest trails within 11 designated systems but are not allowed on state forest roads or in state parks and game lands.

Mask cleaning

Wolf stated that under the authority of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, an FDA approved decontamination system is now in place for cleaning N95 masks that are provided for health center staff members. PEMA Director Randy Padfield has secured federal government aid to help with the cost of the system.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.