COVID-19 cases in Pa. eclipse 16,000, 15 new cases in York County

The number of COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania surged to 16,239 as of noon Wednesday along with 70 new virus-related deaths, the state Department of Health reported.

The 1,680-case increase came as community-spread becomes more prominent and testing capabilities continue to expand. York County had 15 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 233. 

The death toll in the state is now at 310, with deaths in York County remaining at two.

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Details surrounding the deaths at the local level have been scarce, as York County Coroner Pam Gay said Tuesday that she was not notified of the most recent death.

Both UPMC and WellSpan officials have confirmed that death did not occur at their hospitals, she said.

That would mean the death likely would have occurred at a nursing home, assisted-living facility or hospice, which were already notified to report deaths to the coroner's office.

"It's very frustrating," Gay said.

Gay had been notified of the county's first known death related to the coronavirus, she said, which was made public last week and occurred at UPMC Hanover.

As of Wednesday, there have been nearly 1.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide, killing more than 83,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Nearly 400,000 cases had been confirmed in the U.S. — the most confirmed cases of any country in the world — with the death toll just shy of 13,000.

— Logan Hullinger can be reached at lhullinger@yorkdispatch.com or via Twitter at @LoganHullYD.