The Petersburg Emergency Operations Center raised the local risk level for COVID-19 from yellow to orange on Monday after Petersburg saw six active cases of the virus within seven days, according to a joint media release between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center.

"Following the holidays, and some holiday travel, Petersburg is definitely seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases," said Incident Commander Karl Hagerman to the Borough Assembly at their meeting on Monday.

Details of the borough's reaction plan to the COVID-19 pandemic is laid out in the community risk Communication Plan, which had just been approved by the Borough Assembly earlier on Monday. It offers the community guidelines on the best practices to use to prevent any possible spread of the virus. The orange risk level is the second out of three levels and represents a moderate risk level.

The most recent of the six active cases were confirmed on Monday afternoon. Two cases were identified as Petersburg Medical Center staff, according to the joint press release. As a result, PMC has switched its operational status to red, or to a high risk of COVID-19 spread within the facility. Both cases are considered community spread and were unrelated to each other, according to the joint press release. The two PMC employees were also experiencing symptoms.

Patients with upcoming appointments at PMC will be contacted by staff to reschedule their appointments or to utilize the hospital's telehealth services.

On Monday morning, the EOC had also confirmed a case of the virus in town. The resident had not traveled and did not come into contact with another COVID-19 positive individual, according to a separate joint press release between the borough and PMC. The EOC suspects that the resident contracted the virus due to community spread of COVID-19, according to the joint press release.

The other three cases of the virus were confirmed in town on Jan. 3 and Dec. 30 and 29. The individual that tested positive on Jan. 3 was tested upon arriving at the Petersburg Airport from out of state, according to a joint press release between the borough and PMC. The test came back negative, but the individual began developing symptoms and was tested again on Jan. 2. That second test came back positive the following day.

Another Petersburg resident returned to town on Dec. 30 from out of state. The individual had tested for the virus three days prior to traveling, and the test had returned positive shortly after arriving in Petersburg, according to a joint media release between the borough and PMC. The resident had been asymptomatic.

The last of the most recent confirmed cases of COVID-19 had also been traveling out of state. The resident arrived back in Petersburg on Dec. 27 and submitted a test sample at the Petersburg Airport, according to a joint media release between the borough and PMC. The test returned positive on Dec. 29, and the individual was mildly symptomatic, according to the joint press release.