State officials urged people both voting and protesting to practice safe COVID-19 practices.

In a call with media Tuesday, state Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said she and Gov. Tom Wolf's administration encourage people to pursue their rights to protest and vote, but want them to do so safely.

“My hope is that people will be practicing the safety measures I talk about every day,” Levine said.

The state's Department of Health recommends that people wash their hands immediately after touching surfaces and maintain a safe distance of six feet from other people.

While planning for Tuesday's primary, the Department of State issued hygiene kits as well as safe protocols to county elections bureaus.

“The governor and I expect that Pennsylvanians want to and will do the right thing,” Levine said.

Levine said she was not certain of the impact that voting and protesting will have on the number of COVID-19 cases.

“We will be worried about increases,” she said. “(But), it's going to be really hard to track the increases.”

According to Tuesday's report by the Department of Health, Butler County added two COVID-19 cases to its total of 232. The county's death toll remained at 12.

She said people who have been protesting should especially be conscious of their health over the next 14 days.

“If someone was involved with a demonstration or a protest, and five to 14 days later they have symptoms, then they should certainly get tested,” Levine said.

Additionally, while the state is cautiously watching for spikes in COVID-19 cases, according to Levine it remains optimistic about its lower numbers in the past few weeks.

She said testing rates continue to rise, and the state continues to be more capable in contact tracing. Also, the state's improvements show not only a decrease in cases but an increase in recovery, which the department began tracking last week.

The state's recovery rate stood at 67 percent on Monday and Tuesday.

The Department of Health calculates the percentage through its death toll. If 30 days has passed and the person has not been reported dead, then they are considered recovered.

“It's going to be an estimated calculation,” Levine said. “As time goes by, we have less and less cases. I expect the recovery rate to significantly increase and continue to increase.”