As many businesses return to normal in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, health officials are warning that while cases are down dramatically since the peak of the pandemic, cases have been increasing in recent days.

The State Department of Health announced Wednesday that it was accelerating the vaccination timetable for those in Phases 1B, 1C and 2, but will still be targeting workers in certain industries for vaccines.

There seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel with the COVID-19 pandemic as vaccine rates begin to pick up in Pennsylvania. Still, many are frustrated with the slow pace up until this point – especially in getting vaccines to those working with the public who aren’t health care workers or teachers in group 1a of the state’s vaccine roll out.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health issued an order that calls on hospitals to create to implement new safety measures by next week to make facilities safer for staff and patients.

The coronavirus has a roughly 1.2% death rate in Pennsylvania, making it 10 times as deadly as the seasonal flu.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has temporarily suspended a number of provisions in the state’s medical marijuana program to allow patients to have more access to medications.

Pennsylvanians permitted to buy medical marijuana may be more likely to stop taking the medicine because of its cost and the inability to find a consistent supply of the same strain, according to a recent survey by the Pennsylvania DOH.

The state of Pennsylvania is looking for trauma experts to serve on a volunteer panel that will set guidelines for trauma care.

Mental health concerns among the LGBTQ population are a pressing issue in the state, according to Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine. Levine testified at the state’s Mental Health Caucus on Jan. 15, sharing that LGBT adults are more than twice as likely to experience a mental health condition as heterosexual adults.

Eight more hospitals across the state will be joining a state initiative created to help rural hospitals receive the funding they need to stay open.