Westmoreland adds 129 covid cases over two days, 1 death

Westmoreland County added 129 new cases of coronavirus over the past two days, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported Monday.

Health officials said there were 66 cases added Sunday, 56 of them confirmed, 10 probable. There were 63 cases added Monday, with 53 confirmed, 10 probable.

Officials said the county recorded one new covid-related death Monday. The county’s total now stands at 105.

Over the past 19 days, the county has added 41 such deaths — nearly 40% of the county’s total.

The county’s overall positivity rate has been steadily increasing over the past several months. In a separate release on Monday, the department of health said Westmoreland was among several counties with concerning percent-positivity.

Of the 56,925 individuals who have taken a PCR test to date in Westmoreland County, 4,024 have tested positive, a 7% positivity rate. On July 1, the county’s PCR positivity rate was just 3.5%.

According to the state’s covid-19 tracking website, there are 54 county residents hospitalized with the virus, a net increase of four since Friday. Of those patients in the hospital, four of them are on ventilators. State officials report there are 88 operational ventilators in the county, with 15 (17%) currently in use for all illnesses.