The number of Pennsylvania’s coronavirus cases stood at 371 on Saturday, the state Department of Health reported, with Allegheny County seeing its first death from the virus and Beaver County registering a third case.

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An Allegheny County coronavirus patient has died, the second fatality in Pennsylvania, while statewide cases now total 371 as Beaver County remains at three, the state Department of Health reported on Saturday.

With nearly 240 new coronavirus, or COVID-19, cases reported in recent days, state Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said the virus numbers are likely growing because it is spreading across the state and not just the result of increased testing.

“Each day we tell you how important it is to stay calm, to stay home and to stay safe,” she said. “This is more than just a catchy phrase. This virus is deadly and we need to practice social distancing to minimize its spread and its impact.”

Allegheny County said its first death involved an adult who had been hospitalized. County officials also reported 31 cases, with five victims hospitalized.

Butler County also has reported its first case of coronavirus. In a statement, the Butler Health System (BHS) said it has treated a coronavirus patient, who was told by his physician to get tested at a BHS outdoor site last week.

BHS said the patient is recovering at home.

According to figures compiled by the state Health Department, there are now coronavirus cases in 28 of the state’s 67 counties. The other coronavirus-related death was last week in Northampton County.

The county breakdown of cases as of Saturday was: Montgomery, 71; Philadelphia, 69; Delaware, 33; Allegheny, 31; Monroe, 25; Bucks, 24; Chester, 19; Northampton, 17; Lehigh, 13; Cumberland, 11; York, nine; Berks, seven; Luzerne, six; Lackawanna and Washington, five each; Adams, Lancaster and Westmoreland, four each; Beaver, three; Lebanon and Pike, two each; and Butler, Centre, Erie, Franklin, Montour, Potter and Wayne, one each.

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Beaver County’s first known case is an Aliquippa School District employee, according to Aliquippa Superintendent Pete Carbone, but no information has been released by the state Health Department on the second and third cases in the county.

Levine said during her daily livestream briefing Saturday that a possible shelter-in-place order, which would keep residents confined to their homes, is part of the Wolf administration’s discussions. “We’ll make determinations over the next number of days as the situation requires,” she said.

On Friday, Wolf and Levine stressed the importance of Wolf’s shutdown order for businesses that has drawn criticism from businesses and Republican legislators, who say it is too harsh.

“The exponential growth of new cases and the new counties where they are being detected shows the need for the aggressive steps the governor has taken,” Levine said.

Wolf, who ordered all non-life-sustaining businesses in the state to close their physical locations by 8 p.m. Thursday as part of a sweeping mitigation effort said the coronavirus was spreading across urban areas and is now shown to affect all age groups, not just the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions as previously thought.

Republicans have criticized Wolf’s order for being too hasty, giving businesses just three hours to comply and, possibly, lacking legal authority, but the governor stood by his decision on Friday, saying the alternative would be to watch the state’s health-care system be flooded with cases as other states have suffered.

“I cannot allow these surging numbers to overwhelm our people, our healthcare workers and our hospitals,” Wolf said.

Over the weekend, though, Wolf eased enforcement on the order, making it effective Monday instead of Saturday. Several waivers for various types of businesses and companies were also granted, including laundromats, which are now deemed life-sustaining and can remain open.

Wolf said businesses that are confused about where they might fall in his order can call the state Department of Community and Economic Development for guidance. The governor said he understands the economic impact his order will have on businesses and workers, but public health has to be the priority now.

“We need to make sure that Pennsylvanians are safe,” he said.

Levine said Friday while health officials have been concerned about the virus’ effect on seniors, a preliminary analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 20 percent of those hospitalized with the coronavirus are between 20 and 44 years old.

“We are seriously concerned that individuals in the 20 to 44 age range are not heeding the message to stay home and are creating an unnecessary risk to themselves and to others,” Levine said.

Asked when Pennsylvanians might expect to see social distancing and other mitigation efforts paying off, Levine said officials expect to see a peak in cases first. “We’re going to see a surge before we see the decline,” she said.