LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Health is reporting the number of coronavirus cases by zip code.
The most concentrated zip code in the entire state is in Hazleton.
Officials at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Hazleton tell Newswatch 16 the community has done a great job at flattening the curve in the Hazleton area through social distancing and other mitigation techniques to help stop the spread of COVID-19, but those officials say we are not out of the woods yet and need to keep it up.
Leaders with Lehigh Valley Hospital in Hazleton invited reporters into their board room virtually for an update on how the hospital is doing during the COVID-19 crisis.
"Currently, we have 22 people in the hospital that are COVID positive. We peaked at about 30, and that peak was a little over a week or so ago, and we seem to have leveled off, said Chief Medical Officer of the hospital, Dr. Anthony Valente.
In total, Dr. Anthony Valente says 80 to 90 COVID-19 patients have required a hospital stay in Hazleton.
He said, "We have had numerous people on mechanical ventilators, I'm happy to say that we have extubated, that means to take someone off a ventilator, we have extubated three patients, the last of which was about an hour or so ago."
With this news, the question these leaders wanted to address is, "Where do we go from here?"
The answer? Continue doing what you're doing in terms of social distancing and staying home.
"What we have learned over that period is that we have been fairly successful. I think the models that we were seeing, even as late as the end of March were suggesting that we might see a very large surge that would overwhelm the hospital's capacity. I think that what we have learned since March is that by implementing these mitigation strategies, we can bring that curve down, and we've done that successfully to the point where we have not been overrun in the ICU," said Dr. Michael Evans.
"This is a crucial time, a critical time for the community as to where we go from here. So, we cannot take our foot off the gas as it relates to the social distancing, to washing our hands to staying at home," said Lehigh Valley Hospital in Hazleton's President, John Fletcher.
Doctors tell Newswatch 16 their peak of COVID patients was last week. They did need to transfer some patients to a hospital in the Lehigh Valley to keep enough rooms open at the hospital in Hazleton.
Those doctors say social distancing and other mitigation techniques need to be maintained for now in order to help keep it that way.