Westmoreland County adds no new covid deaths for 1st time in nearly a month

Westmoreland County’s 24-day streak of at least one covid-related death has been broken.

The county added no new deaths Sunday or Monday, something that has not happened since Oct. 14. In that time span, the county has recorded 54 deaths. The county’s death total stands at 118.

Westmoreland saw 199 new cases of covid-19 added over the past two days, according to a report Monday from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Among the new cases, 103 were added Sunday, 96 on Monday.

The county’s seven-day new case total is new up to 573, an increase of 285% since the beginning of October, when the seven-day total was only 149.

Among the new cases, 120 were confirmed — 74 on Sunday, 46 on Monday. Of those confirmed — via a PCR test — there was about a 20% positive rate among new patients taking the test.

According to the state’s covid-19 tracking website, there are 56 county residents hospitalized with the virus, with four of them on ventilators. State officials report there are 88 operational ventilators in the county, with 15 (17%) currently in use for all illnesses.

Since the beginning of pandemic in March, Westmoreland County has seen 5,174 cases of covid-19, with 54,862 residents testing negative for the virus. Overall, it makes for a 7.43% positivity rate among those who have taken a PCR test.