Erie County COVID-19 Updates: April 7, 2020

WQLN Livestream

Kathy Dahlkemper holds up one of her cloth masks during the April 6 address

In her daily live stream via WQLN, Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper reported that there were two new confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Erie County. Both individuals are in their 30s. This brings the total of confirmed cases to 29 in the county, with a total of 739 negative cases. Dahlkemper conveyed that out of these 29, none have been hospitalized and none have occurred in nursing homes or assisted living centers.

As for the four new cases reported yesterday, all of those individuals were in their 50s.

Statewide, there have been 14,559 total cases, with 240 deaths. In the last 24 hours, there have been 1,579 new cases, with 79 more deaths.

Warren County has one case, with Crawford County at nine cases. For more information on the latter, go to crawfordcountypa.net with an informational Facebook page and hotline at (814) 373-2504 

Allegheny County has recorded 689 cases so far, with 6 deaths.

Once again stressing the importance of social distancing practices, Dahlkemper shared that she had worn a cloth mask while on a walk of her own. 

The PA Fish and Boat Commission announced on April 7 that Trout Fishing Season is currently open, with a hope to spread out the season and reduce a concentration of fishermen. The season was originally scheduled to open on April 18.

The IRS has noted that many phishing scams have been perpetrated lately regarding stimulus packages. These payments will be distributed automatically, which no actions needed for the majority of people. 

 "Please help us to continue to keep Erie County in a very good place," Dahlkemper said in closing. "We are the 31st in the Commonwealth of counties in terms of the number of cases. We are the 15th largest county in the Commonwealth, so we are doing much, much better than so many of our neighbors within Pennsylvania."

For additional information, go to the county's website at eriecountypa.gov, with The Erie County Department of Health available there as well and at (814) 451-6700. For anyone experiencing anxiety and questions, they are instructed to call the helpline at 814) 273-7007.  There is also a "Rumor" line in place help-line at (814) 451-6986. Dahlkemper said that the county is currently evaluating the rumor hotline, as many calls have had overlapping concerns.

Nick Warren can be reached at nick@eriereader.com