A recent uptick in covid-19 cases and a likely cold-weather resurgence of the virus will not lead to another state shutdown, Pennsylvania health leaders said Wednesday. Instead, current mitigation measures and increased testing will be used to combat the spread as cool weather drives people indoors.

“We have no plans to have any further business restrictions or stay-at-home orders at this time,” Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said. “It’s impossible for me to predict the future, but we are in a much better place than we were in the spring.”

Wednesday marked the ninth consecutive day the state saw a daily new case count of over 1,000 after weeks of the number generally staying in the hundreds. As of dawn Wednesday, 773 covid-19 patients were hospitalized, and 83 were on ventilators.

“With the data we have just reported, we believe we are at the start of the fall resurgence,” Levine said, noting that health officials have been talking about — and preparing for — such a resurgence for months.

She pointed to faster and more available testing, a better supply of personal protective equipment, and more robust contact tracing. She noted the uptick in Pennsylvania mirrors what is happening in most states across the country.

“There’s no way to know exactly what the peak will be in terms of the spring versus now,” she said. “But we’re certainly seeing a change in the last number of weeks from what we saw before.”

The state also received its first shipment of covid-19 antigen test kits from the federal government. The rapid test detects proteins that make up the virus and returns results within an hour as opposed to days.

Michael Hough, director of testing and contact tracing, said Pennsylvania will receive 3.8 million antigen tests through the end of the year. The tests come from the 150 million the federal government is distributing nationwide.

The antigen tests will come in weekly shipments of 250,000 through the end of December, he said. The distribution plan involves “identifying vulnerable populations in Pennsylvania counties that demonstrate substantial risk for community spread.”

To start, that includes Bradford, Centre, Lebanon, Montour, Northumberland, Schuylkill and Snyder counties. Facilities that will receive priority include long-term care facilities, colleges and universities, drug, alcohol and other treatment centers, jails and prisons and other health care providers.

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