Allegheny County and Pennsylvania see highest covid hospitalizations in a month

Covid hospitalizations on Tuesday continued to increase in Allegheny County and Pennsylvania, according to state data, reaching levels previously reached a month ago.

Pennsylvania

The number of covid-19 patients hospitalized in the state grew to 1,980 on Tuesday, the 10th consecutive day hospitalizations have increased. It was the most people hospitalized since Feb. 25.

Hospitalizations in the state reached its 2021 low on March 14 with 1,433. Since then, hospitalizations have risen about 38%.

The state on Tuesday reported 5,032 additional covid cases and 34 additional deaths. Cases were 4,037 confirmed and 995 probable. All of the deaths reported were from March.

Tuesday’s case count was the most in two months, when 5,191 cases were reported Jan. 30.

Total cases and total deaths now stand at 1,020,300 and 25,049, respectively.

Vaccination totals in Pennsylvania continue to grow, with 2,114,998 partially and 2,033,688 fully vaccinated against covid-19. Those figures include Philadelphia County, which is not included in state figures pertaining to vaccinations.

On Tuesday, Gov. Tom Wolf said the state is improving its vaccine distribution.

As of Tuesday, more than 16% of the state’s population has both shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the single-dose shot of the Johnson & Johnson, and more than 32.5% had at least one dose of a vaccine.

Allegheny County

Allegheny County had 202 people hospitalized for covid-19 as of Tuesday.

The number of hospitalizations has gone up each of the past two days, with Tuesday’s count being the most since 206 were hospitalized Feb. 25.

There were 412 new covid cases reported Tuesday in Allegheny County, according to the state Department of Health. Cases were 295 confirmed and 117 probable out of 1,015 PCR tests from July 20 to March 29, although the county said the July case is “an outlier from one lab.”

The county’s case total is now 85,262.

There were two additional deaths reported by the Allegheny County Health Department: one from December and another from March. One person was in their 80s and the other was in their 90s. One of the deaths was associated with a long-term care facility.

As of Tuesday, vaccinations in Allegheny County increased to 208,440 partially and 206,530 fully. That represents about 16.88% of the county being fully vaccinated.

Westmoreland County

Unlike the state and Allegheny County, the hospitalization situation in Westmoreland County has been somewhat static.

On Tuesday, there were 23 people hospitalized for covid-19 in the county, the same amount it has had for the third consecutive day. Westmoreland County has had between 20 and 27 people hospitalized since March 18.

Westmoreland’s overall covid case count increased to 29,052, with 122 additional cases reported. Of those cases, 66 were confirmed and 56 were probable. There was one additional covid death reported, which brought the county’s toll to 705.

County vaccinations increased to 52,848 partially and 53,372 fully. In Westmoreland County, about 14.6% of the population has been fully vaccinated.