New Pa. covid cases, deaths continue downward trend

As February hits its midpoint, Pennsylvania is continuing to see its cases of coronavirus decline — along with the number of those hospitalized and dying from the virus.

Over the past two days, there were 4,516 new cases of coronavirus reported in Pennsylvania, according to data released Monday by the Department of Health. That’s 37% lower than a week ago (7,221) and 55% fewer than a month ago (10,068).

Pennsylvania’s seven-day case average is down to 3,434, while the seven-day case total is at 24,035. Both of those figures have not been that low since Nov. 10.

Among the newly reported cases, 3,853 were confirmed through 21,999 new PCR tests. Officials reported there were 663 new 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.

Over the past two days, Allegheny County saw the largest number of new covid cases, with 394. Other counties posting the most new cases were Philadelphia (309), Lancaster (305), Bucks (293) and York (250).

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 state’s seven-day total of reported deaths peaked in the middle of last month when 1,563 deaths had been reported from Jan. 9-15. Currently, the seven-day total stands at 648.

A total of 23,119 Pennsylvania residents have died of covid-related illness since March 2020.

Pennsylvania officials report that 1,253,554 doses of a covid vaccine have been administered, with 403,343 individuals getting both shots. According to the state’s covid website, among those receiving at least one dose of the vaccine, 67% are white, while just 2.2% are Black and .2% are Asian. The remaining 30% identify as multiple races or whose race is unknown.

Despite a slight uptick in the number of people in the hospital for covid, Pennsylvania’s 14-day hospitalization average is down to 2,827 — a point it’s not been since Nov. 23 (2,700).

Currently, according to the Open Data PA website, there are 2,447 Pennsylvanians hospitalized with covid-19, with 504 of them in intensive care units and 265 on a ventilator.

Since the pandemic began last spring, the state has seen 896,860 cases of coronavirus, with 775,305 of them confirmed through PCR tests and 121,555 of them considered probable cases. There have been 3,775,387 individuals with a negative PCR test.