Three more Bucks County residents who had COVID-19 died, doubling the county’s number of deaths from the virus to six, as of Wednesday morning. 

Two of deaths were men, one in his 90s, the other in his 80s; the third was a woman in her 60s. all with chronic underlying health conditions, county officials said. 

Two were diagnosed with coronavirus after they died, Bucks County said. 

Thirty-one more county residents tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total cases to 319. 29  are hospitalized, nine in critical condition, as of today.

“We continue to express our sympathies to the families in these cases,” Dr. David Damsker, director of the county’s health department, said of today’s fatalities. He said the deaths have followed the predicted trend that older people with chronic health issues are the most susceptible to severe symptoms from the virus, and therefore need the most protection.

Damsker said the new cases continued to demonstrate little community spread, meaning that cases whose source of infection was not known were people required to work in essential jobs or who had traveled out of the area.

“I do think that the social distancing is beginning to work,” he said.

Statewide, 4,963 Pennsylvanians have tested positive for COVID-19, with 37,645 negative results. At least 63 people have died as Governor Tom Wolf extended Stay-at Home orders for seven more counties; Cameron, Crawford, Forest, Franklin, Lawrence, Lebanon, and Somerset were added to the amended order. 

Just under half of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties-33- are now under the stay-at-home order that was extended by the Governor to April 30 earlier this week. 

Morrisville Borough was added to list of municipalities of having at least one confirmed coronavirus case, health officials said. 

Wolf also announced President Trump’s approval of part of his request for a major disaster declaration, which would make funds available to reimburse state, county and local government expenses from the COVID-19 response.

Those governments, along with eligible private non-profits, can be reimbursed for up to 75 percent of eligible expenses, including overtime pay, materials and equipment purchases. The declaration also provides federal materials and supplies to support state and local response efforts, county officials said. 

Meanwhile, Wednesday’s virtual press briefing with Bucks officials was cancelled after experiencing technical issues. 

County Spokesperson Larry King said that Zoom and Facebook were having connectivity issues. 

“We hope to resolve the issue in the near future and reschedule.”