It might sound like a broken record but COVID-19 case counts continue to rise, though Friday’s new cases are slightly lower than the number disclosed on Thursday.

The Pa. Department of Health announced an additional 531 cases on Friday, bringing the state-wide total to 2,218 in 50 of the state’s 67 counties.

In addition, Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said during a Friday briefing that there have been 22 deaths associated with the virus.

She said all of the fatalities to date have been adults.

“I want to particularly thank Pennsylvanians for practicing the social distancing that we have been discussing,” Levine said. “I know it is not easy on families or employers but it is our most important job now.”

While the day-over-day number of cases was down slightly, Levine said that “I do not feel that that decline is statistically significant. (We) would need to see a consistent decline in new cases over time,” noting that it is “too early to tell” if there’s a trend to the numbers.

However, she did explain that “at this time we have the adequate materials to continue our testing protocols” and are “preparing” for a peak in cases “in many different ways. We don’t know when the surge is going to be.

She cited Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who said that “the virus determines the timetable. We don’t determine the timetable. Our job is to be prepared.

Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday expanded his stay-at-home order to an additional nine counties – Berks, Butler, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Luzerne, Pike, Wayne, Westmoreland and York.

That order now covers a total of 20 counties.

In addition to the 2,218 positive test results, 21,016 tests to date have come back negative.

The Department of Health is now releasing cases and hospitalizations by age range.

97 percent of positive cases are in patients 19 years of age and older. More specifically, 46 percent of those cases are in individuals 50 and older with 40 percent of patients in the 25-49 age range.

While those 50 and older make up less than half of total cases, that age range accounts for 75 percent of all hospitalizations. Correspondingly, while 40 percent of cases fall in the 25-49 age range, just 21 percent of total hospitalizations are from that group.

Here’s Friday’s county-by-county breakdown: Philadelphia (530) and two fatalities, Montgomery (374) and three fatalities, Delaware (185) and three fatalities, Allegheny (158) and two fatalities, Bucks (124), Chester (107), Lehigh (93) and two fatalities, Monroe (98) and two fatalities, Northampton (79) and three fatalities, Berks (65), Luzerne (55) and two fatalities, Lackawanna (35) and two deaths, Lancaster (33), Westmoreland (30), York (29), Butler (26) and one fatality, Pike (23), Dauphin (18), Cumberland (16), Beaver, Washington (14), Schuylkill (13), Lebanon (12), Center (11), Fayette (9), Adams (8), Erie (7), Wayne (6), Franklin (5), Greene, Lawrence, Mercer, Montour (4), Columbia (3), Bradford, Carbon, Clearfield, Indiana, Lycoming, Somerset (2),

There is one case in each of the following counties: Warren, Armstrong, Blair, Cambria, Crawford, Juniata, Northumberland, Potter, Susquehanna and Union counties.