The number of COVID-19 cases and deaths climbed again Wednesday in Butler County.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported a total of 69 deaths, an increase of six from Tuesday, and a total of 2,849 confirmed cases, an increase of 74, in the county.

The Butler Health System reported one death Tuesday and one death Wednesday at Butler Memorial Hospital, which had 27 COVID-19 patients, including seven in the intensive care unit. The hospital also reported a total of 459 positive tests.

Statewide, 6,759 new cases and 144 new deaths were reported. The Department of Health offered no additional data Thursday.

On Tuesday, Gov. Tom Wolf signed a third renewal of his 90-day emergency disaster proclamation on the pandemic.

The emergency disaster declaration provides for increased support to state agencies involved in the continued response to the virus and recovery for the state during reopening. This includes expediting supply procurement and lifting certain regulations to allow for efficient and effective mitigation.

The disaster declaration has allowed for waivers and extensions to continue to provide for residents and businesses, including the ability to waive the one-week waiting period to receive unemployment compensation, work search requirements and registration with PA CareerLink for applicants.

The declaration also provides relief from charges for employers and allows the state to suspend numerous training requirements and certification and licensure renewals for health care professionals, child care workers, direct care workers and direct support professionals, among other professional groups that provide life-sustaining services to children, seniors and vulnerable residents.

Through the declaration, PEMA has been able to assign the National Guard to provide various types of support for long-term care facilities — including providing direct patient care support, ancillary support and testing — and at community-based testing sites. It also provides PEMA with the ability to leverage continued federal support, such as noncongregate sheltering.

The declaration is effective for 90 days, unless Wolf rescinds it sooner.

Also Tuesday, Wolf announced that distribution of the seventh allotment of COVID-19 antigen test kits provided by the federal government to Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-certified institutions in Bucks, Juniata, Mercer and Somerset counties.

The antigen test detects an antigen on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, while the Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test detects viral RNA. Both PCR and antigen tests can detect active infection and are considered diagnostic tests.

Antigen tests can be considered for people showing symptoms for five to seven days and for asymptomatic individuals likely to test positive, such as close contacts, according to the health department.

“Antigen test cards are a timely, quick and easy-to-use tool for communities to receive rapid COVID-19 testing,” state Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said. “Antigen tests look for pieces of proteins that make up the SARS-CoV-2 virus and are less sensitive than PCR tests for detecting COVID-19 infections.”

Last week, 202,000 tests were distributed to 112 facilities in Bedford, Cambria, Franklin, Lancaster and Lehigh counties. Additional tests will be provided to health care providers in those counties in the coming weeks.

In weeks one through five, 804,520 antigen test cards were distributed to CLIA-certified sites in the following counties: Armstrong, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Bradford, Cambria, Centre, Dauphin, Delaware, Elk, Franklin, Huntingdon, Indiana, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, Snyder, Tioga, Union, Venango, Westmoreland and Wyoming.