Butler County on Thursday added two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to its overall pandemic total.

According to Thursday's report by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, a total of 697 county residents have tested positive for the virus at some point since January. The county's death toll stands at 18.

Also Thursday, Gov. Tom Wolf announced $10 million in grant funding to support the rapid advancement of vaccines, treatments and therapies in response to COVID-19.

Three Pittsburgh institutions received some of the grant funding allocated toward vaccine research. Carnegie Mellon University received $643,359; the University of Pittsburgh received $633,769; and the University of Pittsburgh-Center for Vaccine Research received $976,922.

“The funding awarded today will jump-start a number of promising projects that would help Pennsylvania overcome this devastating global pandemic, setting us on a path to recovery and protection both now and in the future,” said Wolf in a news release Thursday.

Of the 23 recipients, $6.8 million was awarded to 12 vaccine projects, nearly $1.2 million was awarded to five therapy projects, nearly $1.6 million was awarded to five treatment projects, and $430,000 was awarded to a project that will support the build out of physical infrastructure, advancing the development of leading edge innovations in the fight against SARS-CoV-2.

“We know that the only way we can get back to our normal lives is by developing a robust testing and tracing infrastructure combined with effective, safe and affordable treatments and vaccines,” Wolf said.

The results of testing have provided insight and evidence for the governor's decision making throughout the pandemic. The COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard is one way the state had been informing the public about trends in the spread of the virus.

According to the state's COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard, Butler County has seen a decline in its new case numbers in the past two weeks.

The dashboard listed the county's percent positivity rate at 1.9 percent in its most recent seven-day period between Aug. 14 and Aug. 20.