Pennsylvania First Lady Frances Wolf has tested negative for covid-19 a day after her husband, Gov. Tom Wolf, announced he had contracted the virus.
Per guidance from state and federal health agencies, she will continue to quarantine at home. She said in a statement that she and the governor are grateful for the well wishes.
“Please,” she said in a statement, “on behalf of the more than 400,000 Pennsylvanians who have contracted this virus, the more than 12,000 who have died, and the health care and essential workers who are overwhelmed and scared, follow the direction of our doctors. Wear your masks. And, if you can, stay home.”
Covid-19 cases across the commonwealth have skyrocketed over the past several months, jumping by more than 210,000 in the last 30 days, now topping 457,000. The state added 11,972 cases on Wednesday and reported 248 deaths.
Since the pandemic began, 12,010 people in Pennsylvania have died from the virus. More than 2,700 people have died from the virus in the past month.
Gov. Wolf issued a statement Wednesday afternoon announcing he’d tested positive for the virus a day prior. In a news release on Thursday, officials said the governor remains in isolation at home and continues to be asymptomatic.
Lyndsay Kensinger, a spokeswoman for Wolf, confirmed that multiple members of the governor’s security detail recently tested positive for the virus. She said Wolf has spent the past several months working mostly from home or from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency in Harrisburg.
She said everyone meeting the definition of a close contact has been contacted, and they are following quarantine guidelines, including Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine and several members of the governor’s senior staff who have also been working at PEMA.
All, she said Wednesday, have so far tested negative.
Wolf and Levine are scheduled to hold a press conference at 4 p.m. today to discuss covid-19 and possible restrictions.
