Pennsylvania closing in on 1 million covid cases as numbers continue to creep upward

New cases of the coronavirus continue to see a week-over-week increase at state and county levels in Pennsylvania, according to numbers released Monday by the Department of Health.

There were 3,920 new cases of covid-19 recorded in the state over the past two days, the Department of Health reported Monday. It’s nearly a 19% jump from last week’s two-day report. The last time the state saw more new cases in a Sunday-Monday report was Feb. 14-15, when 4,516 new cases were recorded.

Even so, the number of new cases over the past two days was lower than the 4,213 cases posted on Friday. That was the state’s highest single-day posting in six weeks.

At its current rate, Pennsylvania could hit the 1 million case mark within the week.

Pennsylvania

Of the new cases at the state level, 3,273 were confirmed through PCR tests, while 647 were listed as probable cases. Health officials define a probable case as one in which a patient has a positive viral antigen test or covid symptoms with a “high-risk exposure” to someone who has been confirmed to have coronavirus.

Philadelphia had the most new cases over the two-day span, with 573. That was followed by Allegheny (425), Bucks (275), Montgomery (268) and Chester (195). Other Western Pennsylvania counties reporting: Westmoreland (127), Washington (50), Butler (46), Fayette (42), Lawrence (32), Beaver (22), Indiana (9) and Armstrong (8). Six counties reported no new cases over the two-day period.

Health officials announced 15 new covid-related deaths on Monday, with 14 of them in March and one in February. The death toll to date in the state is 24,789.

Hospitalizations for covid in the state continue to inch upward, rising by 48 in the past two days to 1,577. Six of the past eight days have seen an increase in the number of people hospitalized for covid-19. Of those in the hospital, 335 are in intensive care units and 189 are on ventilators.

As of the latest data available Monday, there have been 1,690,805 Pennsylvanians who have received either the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or both shots of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, and 1,773,484 with at least one dose of a covid vaccine. That amounts to just over 27% with partial coverage and just over 13% completely covered.

To date, 988,435 cases of covid-19 have been recorded in Pennsylvania, with 844,567 of them confirmed through PCR testing. There have been 4,058,854 negative tests recorded since the pandemic began.

Allegheny County

There were 425 new covid cases reported in Allegheny County over the two-day span — 55% higher than last week’s numbers. It’s the highest Sunday-Monday report since Feb. 7-8, when 450 new cases were reported.

Of the new cases, 303 were confirmed through PCR tests, with 122 listed as probable. The new cases ranged in age from 3 months to 98 years, with a median age of 33 years.

Officials reported one new covid-related death. The person was in their 90s and associated with a long-term care facility.

The age breakdown of Allegheny County’s latest cases — 213 female, 212 male — are:

• Ages 0-4: 16
• Ages 5-12: 36
• Ages 13-18: 45
• Ages 19-24: 60
• Ages 25-49: 152
• Ages 50-64: 80
• Ages 65 and older: 36

In Allegheny County hospitals, there are 167 covid patients, with 42 of them in the ICU and 26 on ventilators.

On the vaccine front, 175,817 county residents received either the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or both shots of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, with 356,327 residents having at least one dose of a vaccine. That means 29% are at least partially vaccinated, while 14.4% are fully covered.

To date, there have been 82,080 cases of covid recorded in Allegheny County, with 63,628 confirmed with PCR tests.

Westmoreland County

There were 127 new cases of covid-19 reported over the two-day period in Westmoreland County. That number is 67% higher than last week’s 76 cases. It’s the highest Sunday-Monday posting since Feb. 14-15, when 129 new cases were added.

Of the new cases, 76 were confirmed through PCR tests, with 51 listed as probable.

The county has 27 residents in the hospital with covid. Among those, three are on ventilators.

There have been 44,900 Westmoreland County residents who received either the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or both shots of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, with 91,602 residents having at least one dose of a vaccine. That equates to 25% with at least partial coverage and 12% with full coverage.

To date, there have been 28,221 cases of covid-19 in Westmoreland County, with 19,724 confirmed through PCR testing.