Westmoreland County sees over 60% drop in covid cases in past month

Westmoreland County’s coronavirus situation continues to improve — and dramatically when compared to just one month ago.

Another 129 cases of coronavirus were reported over the past two days in the county, according to data released Monday by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. That total is 6% lower than a week ago (137) and 40% lower than a month ago (214).

The county’s seven-day new case average dropped to 79, while the seven-day case total stands at 556. Both of those figures are 63% lower than they were in mid-January.

Among the newly reported cases, 73 were confirmed through 390 new PCR tests, with 56 cases reported as probable. 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.

According to state data, there were 47 newly reported covid-related deaths over the past two days. That number is 37% lower than was reported last week (75) and 77% lower than a month ago (202). The county’s seven-day total of reported deaths peaked on Dec. 20 at 58 deaths — reported from Dec. 14-20. Currently, the seven-day total stands at 12.

A total of 648 Westmoreland County residents have died of covid-related illness since March 2020.

Health officials in the state report that 23,760 county residents have received at least one dose of a covid vaccine, with 11,976 getting both shots.

Despite a slight uptick in the number of people in the hospital for covid, Westmoreland County’s seven-day hospitalization average is down to 123 — a point it’s not been since Dec. 3 (108). The number of those hospitalized peaked at 184 on Jan. 8.

Currently, according to the Open Data PA website, there are 123 residents of Westmoreland County in the hospital with covid-19 — four of them in intensive care units and five on a ventilator.

Since the pandemic began last spring, Westmoreland County has seen 25,895 cases of coronavirus, with 18,477 of them confirmed through PCR tests and 7,418 of them considered probable cases. There have been 84,519 individuals test negative for the virus.