Over the weekend, Warren County added to its total of COVID-19 cases.

On Sunday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported the tenth case in the county.

“Regarding the new cases identified in Warren County, there appears to be a trend,” Warren General Hospital Chief Operations Officer and Chief Nursing Officer Dr. Joe Akif said. “It is our understanding in the last seven cases that they are from a few households. They are also from three separate locations in Warren County. When one person in a household is positive, there is an increased probability that more people in the same household will test positive.”

“The recent increase of COVID cases in Warren County does follow the trend of increased cases across the state,” Public Information Office Cecile Stelter said in a Monday release. “We are in the middle of summer which means vacations and family gatherings, so as more people are moving around Pennsylvania and in/out of higher COVID areas, including to/from other states, it is not unreasonable to expect a rise in cases.”

“With the recent holiday, and more people traveling out of the area, we expect to see increases in the number of positive cases and exposures,” Akif said.

Fully half of the county’s cases are ‘probable’ cases.

“The Pennsylvania Department of Health recently adjusted their reporting of cases to include ‘presumptive positives’ to be counted as ‘positives,'” Stelter said. “This could also be a contributing factor to the recent rise in case numbers.”

“Any questions regarding the change in reporting should be directed to the PA Department of Health,” she said.

“Warren General has not tested positive for any Warren County residents to date,” Akif said. “We have not had any inpatients that have been COVID positive and are not currently treating anyone that is COVID positive.”

The county’s 25.3 cases per 100,000 population is still easily the lowest in the state.

Regionally, Erie County has 263.9; Elk County has 99.4; Forest County has 96.2; Crawford County has 91.7; Venango County has 74.1; and McKean County has 48.8 cases per 100,000 population. Blair (85.7), Bradford (97), Cameron (89), Jefferson (89.4), and Tioga (71.1) are the only other counties with fewer than 100 cases per 100,000.

“Ten total cases in Warren County is still a very low number in comparison to other counties and half of those were associated with cases from early in the pandemic who have recovered,” Stelter said.

“COVID-19 is a serious virus especially to our older population and to those with pre-existing respiratory conditions or compromised immune systems,” she said. “People are reminded to maintain social distancing, wash their hands regularly, use hand sanitizer, wear masks when social distancing is not possible and use extra care around those who are most susceptible to the virus.”

“As the pandemic cycles through, information changes daily,” Akif said. “So we need to continue with the practices that best protect us from being exposed or exposing others:

¯ Continue to wear a mask whenever you are out of your home. The mask not only protects you, but it protects me as well;

¯ Wash your hands often and use hand sanitizer when available;

¯ Socially distance and limit large gathering; and

Ask individuals to travel judiciously. Warren has done so well through the first cycle — with the traveling away from Warren and returning to Warren, we bring back whatever we may have been exposed to.”

The hospital doesn’t have an unlimited supply of test kits.

“There continues to be a public demand for surveillance testing for COVID,” he said. “The health market still has limited testing supplies for larger community testing. The hospital has continued to work with the local physician and provider community to identify symptomatic patients and test them to rule out any positive cases.”

To help prevent the spread of COVID, the hospital has instituted some changes.

“A recent practice change at the hospital that has caused some confusion is our visitation policy,” Akif said. “While we are allowing visitors again, each patient can only have one visitor in the building at a time. This allows us to limit the interactions and potential exposures for our sick patients. Please identify the appropriate times for visiting hours before coming to the hospital. They are listed on the hospital’s Facebook page. Also as a reminder, if you do not wear a mask, you will not be allowed in the building. We are committed to protecting those in our care and employment.”