State officials have received confirmation that a possibly COVID-19-related syndrome that affects children has reached Pennsylvania.

Dr. Rachel Levine, the state's secretary of health, said during a news conference Friday that she has been in touch with all six of the children's hospitals in the state, and has been told of cases consistent with the rare condition, which causes inflammation in a child's blood vessels that have resulted in serious illness and even death in some cases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a case definition and health alert Thursday night, officially naming the condition “multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children,” also referred to as MISC.

Levine said her department has been aware of the syndrome throughout the week, and had asked children's hospitals to report any suspected cases.

“We have learned that there are cases of MISC in Pennsylvania, but we don't know the details yet until that in-depth reporting will be done through our reporting system,” Levine said.

UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh could not be reached for comment.

MISC has been linked to COVID-19, but COVID-19 has not officially been named as the direct cause of the syndrome. The conditions have been compared to Kawasaki Disease and Toxic Shock Syndrome because it can appear in children about four to six weeks after a child recovers from the COVID-19 virus.

The American Academy of Pediatrics listed common symptoms associated with the condition as stomach pain, fever, rash, vomiting, diarrhea, trouble breathing, confusion and excessive drowsiness.

Levine said her department will continue to monitor the syndrome and will release information to the public once case information is entered into its database. “We will be pleased to release whatever breakdowns we possibly can,” Levine said.

During Friday's news conference, Gov. Tom Wolf released a list of 12 counties that will move into the yellow phase May 22, including Beaver County, the last county in the southwestern region to do so.

Beaver County is home to a severe outbreak in a large nursing home, but its commissioners had planned to move into the yellow phase regardless of the governor's decision.

Wolf said the stance of the commissioners did not factor into his decision. He said he has made decisions based on the data collected and interpreted by the state Department of Health and other sources.

“These are not political decisions,” he said. “We're looking at the data and Beaver County is doing much better.”

Butler, Allegheny and Armstrong counties moved to yellow Friday.

According to an Associated Press report, it is estimated that when the counties open May 22, more than 40 percent of Pennsylvania's population of 12.8 million will have seen an easing of pandemic restrictions.

While Beaver County could be making its way toward recovery, movement in Butler County's COVID-19 numbers remain in the single digits.

According to the state Department of Health's daily report, Butler County added three cases to its total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, pushing the county to just past the 200 mark. However, the county's death toll remained at six, which hasn't changed since April 21.

While state tabulations for Butler County remain steady, Butler Health System has seen an increase in patients needing hospitalization at Butler Memorial Hospital due to COVID-19. However, that data is not broken down into which counties patients call home.

“We are not concerned,” said BHS spokeswoman Jana Panther. “This continues to be a low and manageable number.”

BHS reported Friday that eight patients, one of whom is in the intensive care unit, were seeking care for COVID-19 at BMH. Of the eight patients, four have confirmed cases of the virus and four are suspected to have it.

Those numbers are up from the ones BHS reported Wednesday, when the regional health care system reported having just two inpatients, one with a confirmed case of COVID-19 and another suspected of having the virus. Neither patient was in the ICU at that time.

Panther said the hospital's levels of personal protective equipment and testing supplies continue to be adequate for “current and planned patient volume.”

By Associated Press