Allegheny County's covid hospitalization number drops to October level

Allegheny County has its fewest number of covid-19 patients hospitalized since October, according to the latest state Department of Health data.

On Tuesday, there were 135 covid patients hospitalized, down from 153 on Monday. That number has decreased since 172 were hospitalized on Thursday. Tuesday’s number was the lowest since Oct. 20, when 125 were hospitalized in the county.

The hospitalization total has been above 100 patients in Allegheny County since Oct. 18. The peak for hospitalizations was 881 on Dec. 16.

There were 306 additional covid cases — but no deaths — reported Tuesday in the county, bringing total cases to 80,360. Total deaths remained at 1,732. Tuesday marked the third time in March that daily reported cases have been above 300.

Of the newly reported cases, 127 were confirmed and 179 were probable, with two cases being more than a week old. Dates of positive tests ranged from March 4 to Monday. Ages of cases ranged from 1 to 91 years, with a median age of 36.

According to state data, Allegheny County has 165,889 people partially vaccinated and 146,403 fully vaccinated for covid-19 as of Tuesday. The number of people fully vaccinated doubled since the beginning of the month. This is partially a result of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine being administered. There were 74,891 people fully vaccinated on March 1 in the county.

Westmoreland County

Westmoreland County on Tuesday recorded its most covid cases this month, according to the state Department of Health.

There were 105 additional cases reported (22 confirmed, 83 probable), the most since 115 cases were reported Feb. 3. It was the second time in March that reported cases had been 100 or more. An additional covid death was also reported after none had been reported since Thursday.

Total cases and total deaths in the county are now 27,751 and 689, respectively.

Tuesday’s covid hospitalization number decreased to 116, down from 121 the day before. That number has remained above 100 since Nov. 30.

As covid vaccinations go, there are 42,020 people partially and 38,482 fully vaccinated in Westmoreland County as of Tuesday.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania on Tuesday reported its highest number of newly reported covid cases of the month, per the Department of Health.

On Tuesday, 3,119 additional cases were reported (2,112 confirmed and 1,007 probable), the most since Feb. 27, when 3,361 cases were reported. It was third day this month that reported cases were over 3,000.

Sixty-five additional covid deaths were reported, the most in about two weeks. Of the deaths reported Tuesday, 53 are from March, six from February, four from January and two from December.

Total cases in the state are now 970,717, and the state death total is now 24,652.

Covid hospitalizations in Pennsylvania were up Tuesday, increasing to 1,489 from Monday’s total of 1,450.

The number of vaccinations in the state continues to rise, with 1,179,624 partially and 1,306,700 fully vaccinated as of Tuesday. Those number do not include Philadelphia County, which keeps its own data and does not count toward state totals.