Philadelphia Reports Zero Coronavirus Deaths, First Day Since March

Philadelphia reported zero coronavirus deaths on Monday, marking the first day the city reported no deaths since March 24.

Health officials reported no new coronavirus fatalities in Philadelphia while adding 186 new cases of the virus, signaling a positive trend for the city.

“We’ve been through some tough times in this epidemic, but over the weekend the situation here in Philadelphia is starting to look better,” Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Tom Farley said, according to WHYY:

Philadelphia reported no new deaths caused by COVID-19 on Monday and just 186 new cases.

City officials say it’s a hopeful trend.https://t.co/dhVwYpQfP0

— WHYY News (@WHYYNews) May 4, 2020

Monday also marked the third consecutive day the city saw less than 400 new coronavirus cases. Farley said the city’s total now stands at 16,040 positive cases.

“While the daily count has remained low over the past few days, some labs do not report results over the weekend, and the City has not yet received all backlogged results,” the health department added in a press release.

Additionally, the city’s death toll dropped to 726 after officials removed one of the coronavirus-related deaths over the weekend.

The drop in Philadelphia’s fatality rate follows last month’s controversy regarding inconsistent numbers on the state’s overall death count. The state saw two spikes in its death count followed by a decrease within the span of the week — a phenomenon health officials attributed to lags in reporting and the inclusion and subsequent removal of “probable” coronavirus deaths.

As Breitbart News reported:

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the inconsistencies began on Sunday after the Health Department raised the death total by 276 overnight, bringing the total to 1,112. The death total saw another significant jump on Tuesday, going from 1,204 to 1,564 in a single day, giving the false impression of a surge in recent deaths.

Health Secretary Rachel Levine clarified this week that the spikes were not reflective of current information, attributing the bumps to a computer glitch, a general lag in initial reporting (counting deaths that occurred weeks ago, in some cases), and the addition of “probable positive” deaths.

Pennsylvania had 50,092 confirmed cases of the virus and 2,458 related deaths as of Tuesday morning, according to the state’s department of health.