Philadelphia had its first coronavirus-related death, Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley announced Wednesday afternoon.
The victim was a male in his 50s with underlying health conditions, Farley said. He also said we can expect more deaths in the future.
“The death of this resident is terrible for their family and friends, and a reminder of the extremely dangerous nature of this pandemic,” Mayor Jim Kenney said. “When we tell residents to stay at home and avoid even small gatherings on the street corner – we are serious.”
Throughout the city, the number of confirmed cases rose 93 from yesterday, bringing the total to 342 since the pandemic started.
Of those with confirmed cases, 12 are under the age of 20, 163 are ages 20 to 39, 85 are ages 40 to 59 and 82 are 60 or older.
Cases have been reported in every area of the city. To date, there have been 2,508 negative tests of coronavirus in the city.
Closure of nonessential businesses has been extended to April 6 in the city and state.
Farley said he expects most businesses that have remained open will have at least one employee who tests positive for the virus. Data from other countries shows, in these cases, most of the viruses were contracted from home, Farley said.
If the employee who tested positive was in contact with another employee for longer than 10 minutes, treat them as a medium or high-risk person who should quarantine. Basic cleaning of the work environment should be performed.
More information for how workplaces should conduct themselves can be found here.
People who have traveled to the New York metropolitan area are recommended and urged to self-quarantine for 14 days after they last visited due to the rapid spread of the virus in that area, Kenney said.
