Gov. Tom Wolf: ‘Light at the end of the tunnel’ in virus fight

One year after the discovery of the first coronavirus case in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday that it has been a tough and trying year, but there is hope and a light at the end of the tunnel with the growing availability of vaccines.

Wolf, speaking at a news conference outside a Rite Aid pharmacy in Steelton where people with appointments were waiting to be vaccinated, announced on March 6, 2020, that Pennsylvania had confirmed its first two cases of the new coronavirus.

Since then, Pennsylvania has seen several spikes in cases, counted more than 113,000 confirmed or probable cases of the virus and attributed more than 24,200 deaths to it. More than 868,000 people have been fully vaccinated in Pennsylvania, according to the state Department of Health.

“This has been a tough year,” Wolf said. “I’m not sure there isn’t anybody in Pennsylvania who isn’t frustrated, sad, maybe even grieving for a loved one who has been lost. … There’s a lot of sadness. But at this point though we have something we didn’t have a year ago and that is hope. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

He also said that he has never been prouder of the state’s residents, saying “it’s been an amazing year in terms of showing ourselves what we are made of.”