In their Friday update, state officials did not include Butler County among counties causing concern during the coronavirus pandemic.

A joint news release Friday by Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine listed 17 counties out of the state's 67 with concerning positivity percentages. The list included neighbors Beaver and Mercer counties, but not Butler County.

“We must continue to wear masks, practice social distancing and avoid large gatherings to keep our numbers low, which will stop the spread and allow more freedom,” Wolf said.

According to Friday's report by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Butler County added five new confirmed cases Friday to its total of COVID-19 cases.

Since the pandemic began, the county has had 590 residents test positive for the virus, and 15 county residents have died due to complications of COVID-19.

According to an update Friday, both of Butler Health System's hospitals saw decreases in inpatients.

As of Friday, Butler Memorial Hospital was treating two inpatients with COVID-19 symptoms, which was two less than Wednesday's report. Clarion Hospital saw a decrease from three to zero COVID-19 inpatients since Wednesday.

Levine said the decreases seen in many of the state's counties justify the actions the governor's administration has taken in recent months to mitigate a resurgence of the virus.

On Thursday, the Department of Health updated its travel recommendations to add Nebraska, North Dakota and Wisconsin to the list of states requiring self-quarantine upon returning to Pennsylvania. Including the new states, there are 22 on the self-quarantine list. The state recommends people to self-quarantine for 14 days when returning from the listed states.

“Our ongoing mitigation efforts are working to stop this virus before spreading further, and we will not stop as long as COVID-19 remains a threat in our communities,” Levine said.

As of Thursday, the state has seen a seven-day case increase of 5,016. The previous seven-day increase was 6,228. The difference represents a shift in statewide percent-positivity from 4.1 percent this week to 4.6 percent last week.

“Our percent positivity decreased for the second week in a row, which continues to reflect the willingness of Pennsylvanians to take steps to protect themselves and their neighbors,” Wolf said.