As the state's recovery percentage remains steady, Butler County saw three confirmed cases added to its total Friday and state health officials are calling for more COVID-19 contact tracers.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health's report Friday, Butler County has a total of 549 confirmed cases, which has been compiled since the pandemic began. The county's death toll remained at 15.

Butler Health System also reported little change Friday as inpatient numbers for both Butler Memorial Hospital and Clarion Hospital remained unchanged since Wednesday's update.

Butler Memorial is treating five patients, two suspected of having the virus and three with confirmed cases. One patient is being treated in the intensive care unit.

Despite a rise in cases and a continued plateau of deaths, the statewide recovery rate for COVID-19 remains at 75 percent. The rate had dropped July 20 by 1 percent to 75 percent.

The recovery rate was as high as 78 percent on July 6, before it began to gradually decrease.

If a case has not been reported as a death, and it is more than 30 days past the date of a first positive test (or onset of symptoms), then an individual is considered recovered.

“Individuals who have recovered (statistic) is determined using a calculation, similar to what is being done by several other states,” said Nate Wardle, a spokesman for the Department of Health.

Wardle said about 25,000 cases are still within the 30-day window. He said the state will likely see a gradual rise or fall in the percentage in the weeks to come.

“From a mathematical percentage, when you already have nearly 80,000-plus recovered, it will not make a massive change to the rate,” Wardle said.

The recovery percentage is one of multiple tools in the COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard that Gov. Tom Wolf praised in a news release Friday.

The dashboard was designed to help guide the state's mitigation efforts.

“The mitigation efforts we took on July 15 were a proactive step to get in front of the rise of cases that we continue to see,” Wolf said. “Our percent positivity decreased this week, which is a positive sign, but in order to continue to see numbers decrease, we must continue to wear masks and practice social distancing.”

In a separate news release Friday, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announced $23 million in federal funding to contract with Insight Global to recruit, hire, train and support 1,000 more paid contract tracers.

There are currently has about 654 contact tracers across the state, including community health nurses and the county and local health departments.

Contact tracers reach out to COVID-19 patients who recently tested positive to find out where they may have contracted the virus and who they may have passed it on to.

“This project will bolster and diversify our public health workforce, all while coordinating and mobilizing efforts in order to conquer any potential surge in COVID-19 cases,” Levine said.

The hourly rates for these positions range from $18 to $22 an hour for contact tracers and $22 to $24 an hour for contact tracing supervisors and care resource managers.

These positions will be offered in both full- and part-time capacities, and will provide ongoing skill development and training for those interested in career pathways into public health.