Pennsylvania’s covid-19 cases crested 40,000 by Saturday morning, with 45 new deaths and 1,200 new cases of the coronavirus disease reported by state health officials.

People age 65 and over make up about 26% of all cases, but continue to account for the majority of covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations.

More than 60% of the state’s 1,537 total confirmed deaths are attributed to nursing homes. At least 7,326 cases are associated with residents and employees of 425 long-term care facilities in 40 counties, including nursing and personal care homes.

In Allegheny County, more than 70% of deaths are attributed to nursing homes, as are the majority of at least 27 covid-19 deaths reported by the Westmoreland County Coroner.

Nearly 2,300 cases of covid-19 statewide have involved health care workers.

Testing delays, limitations hinder mitigation efforts

State Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said that ramping up testing statewide is a top priority, including testing people with only mild symptoms and expanding contact tracing as the Wolf administration proceeds with a plan to reopen the state gradually.

RELATED: Here’s what happens in each of Pennsylvania’s reopening phases

Nearly 153,000 people have tested negative — suggesting that less than 2% of the state’s population has been tested for covid-19.

“The shortage of testing resources has been a problem — and that includes all aspects of testing,” Levine said Saturday afternoon during a video news briefing. “We are going to particularly want to target testing in those areas that the governor identifies will go from red to yellow,” referring to Wolf’s color-coded plan. Shifting from red to yellow signifies lifting some restrictions, with the green phase signifying a full reopening.

In order to reopen a particular region, the governor’s plan sets a target of fewer than 50 positive cases of the coronavirus per 100,000 residents for 14 days.

Westmoreland County’s cases climbed to 360 as of Saturday, with 27 deaths cited by the coroner, and Allegheny County reported a total of nearly 1,200 cases and 73 deaths.

Elsewhere in Western Pennsylvania, Beaver County has 359 cases and 46 deaths, and Butler County reported 168 cases and six deaths.

Armstrong County has two deaths and 46 positive cases of the disease, state data show.

Washington County has two deaths and 99 cases, Fayette County has four deaths and 79 cases and Greene County has 25 cases and no deaths.

Most ventilators available, but feds won’t send gloves, gowns

Of 2,746 patients hospitalized statewide, 662 have required a ventilator or breathing machine, the state health department reports.

About 47% of hospital beds, 40% of intensive care unit beds and nearly 70% of ventilators remain available, Levine said.

Federal officials have warned they do not have a surplus of supplies such as medical gowns and gloves to send to Pennsylvania, Levine said, so officials are working to find alternate sources.

When asked about how many Pennsylvanians may have had and recovered from covid-19, Levine reiterated prior statements that the state is not tracking recoveries at this time. The health department continues to make new hires, but may not ever be able to track every single recovery, Levine said.

“To be honest with you,” Levine said, “we will not have the personnel … or the ability to call all 40,000 (people diagnosed with covid-19) and see when and how long they recovered.”

With 1,197 new cases reported as of 12 a.m., Pennsylvania has 40,049 confirmed and probable cases in all 67 of the state’s counties. People with probable covid-19 cases have not been tested for covid-19 but have had symptoms and made close contact with a person who tested positive.

No children in Pennsylvania have died from the disease.

Age breakdown of positive cases:

0-4: ​< 1%

​5-12: ​< 1%

​13-18: ​1%

​19-24: 6%

​25-49: ​38%

​50-64: ​28%

​65+: ​26%

Age breakdown of hospitalizations:

​0-29: ​2%

30-49: 5%

50-64: 10%

​65-79: 20%

​80+: 20%

The state has updated an interactive map that allows users to search for cases by county and ZIP code.

RELATED: Here are the ZIP codes in Allegheny County with the most coronavirus cases

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