Pennsylvania adds 9,797 new covid cases in 2 days, 107 deaths

Pennsylvania’s covid-19 tally rose by nearly 9,800 more cases over the past two days, according to data Monday from the state’s Department of Health.

Officials said 9,797 new cases were reported — 5,529 on Sunday, 4,268 on Monday. The statewide total stands at 361,464 cases.

Of those cases, 5,178 were confirmed through new PCR tests from Sunday’s batch and 3,992 confirmed from Monday’s.

Despite the lower number of cases statewide, Allegheny County posted the highest number of new cases in the past two days (920). That was followed by Philadelphia (868), Montgomery (604), Bucks (587) and Lancaster (545). With 302 new cases in the past two days, Westmoreland had the eighth most.

Officials said there were 107 new covid-related deaths over the past two days — 75 reported Sunday, 32 reported Monday. To date, 10,383 Pennsylvanians have died from covid-related illness.

Over the past 10 days, hospitalizations have risen by 46% in the state, with a similar percentage increase in those admitted to intensive care units. Health officials say most of the patients hospitalized are ages 65 or older, and most of the deaths have occurred in the same demographic.

Officials report the trend in the 14-day moving average of number of hospitalized patients per day has increased by nearly 3,000 since the end of September.

According to the state’s covid-19 tracking website, there are 4,631 Pennsylvanians in the hospital for coronavirus, with 970 of them in the ICU and 499 on ventilators. State officials report there the state has 5,281 operational ventilators, with 1,498 (28.4%) currently in use for all illnesses.

Among the state’s 25,553 probable cases of covid-19, 16,951 individuals have had a positive viral antigen test, while 639 individuals have had a positive serology test with either covid symptoms or a high-risk exposure to someone with the virus. The other probable cases include patients who have symptoms and a high-risk exposure.

In the state’s 1,266 distinct nursing and personal care homes, there have been 35,367 resident cases of covid and 6,661 cases among workers.

Since the pandemic began in March, 335,911 Pennsylvanians have tested positive for the virus through a PCR test, while 2,828,049 have been negative, making an overall positivity rate of 10.62% among unique PCR tests. Among all PCR tests administered — including multiple tests by the same patient — the overall positivity rate in the state is at 6%.