Pa. reports 7,962 new covid cases; 36% of total cases have come in December

Pennsylvania reported 7,962 new covid cases and 231 new deaths Tuesday, according to the state Department of Health.

After the new numbers, total cases in the state are now 571,551 and total deaths are 14,212. In December, there have been 210,087 cases and 3,829 deaths reported, which are about 36% and 26% of their totals, respectively.

New covid cases have decreased somewhat over the past week or so in Pennsylvania. The seven-day case average and case total peaked Dec. 16 when the average hit 10,579 and total reached 74,052 cases. On Tuesday, those numbers had come down to an average of 8,890 and 62,231 cases for the past seven days.

Of the 231 deaths newly reported Tuesday, 229 are from December and two are from November. December has also became the second deadliest month with 2,764 covid-related deaths occurring during it, surpassing May’s 2,645. April had the most deaths with 3,392.

In the state, there were 6,151 covid-19 patients hospitalized as of Tuesday, with 1,236 in the ICU and 772 on ventilators, according to Department of Health data. There are 580 ICU and 2,948 medical/surgical beds available in Pennsylvania, per the DOH covid-19 dashboard. That represents about 12% of total ICU and 4% of total medical/surgical beds.