HARRISBURG — More than 1 million Pennsylvania residents have filed unemployment compensation claims since the coronavirus began taking a severe toll on the economy in mid-March, according to data released Monday, as the state reported more virus cases and deaths.

The state exceeded 283,000 jobless claims last week, pushing Pennsylvania past 1 million in the three weeks since businesses began shutting down to help stop the spread of COVID-19. The state’s swelling ranks of jobless account for an outsized portion of the nationwide toll.

Even as the economic devastation came into sharper focus, there was a glimmer of good news on the health front: The number of new virus cases and deaths reported by the state health department did not set single-day records in either category.

Gov. Tom Wolf warned that a “surge is coming,” but expressed some optimism that his worst fears may be avoided.

“We are starting to see that the early exponential increase in cases has given way to a much flatter (curve), so the surge may not be as great as we once anticipated, that’s our fervent hope,” Wolf said at a video news conference.

However, he also said that success depends on people staying home — and state police said Monday that troopers have started enforcing the governor’s statewide stay-at-home order.

Hazleton, a northeastern Pennsylvania city of about 25,000 people, began enforcing a curfew Saturday night in response to an alarming rise in virus cases.

Hazleton Mayor Jeff Cusat told The Associated Press on Monday that, by his count, 763 people in the city and suburbs had contracted the virus. He said his numbers come from hospitals and other health providers in the area.

By Associated Press