Pennsylvania coronavirus deaths top 3,000 as state catches up with data
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Coronavirus deaths in Pennsylvania surpassed 3,000 on Tuesday as the Department of Health works to catch up with information coming from individual counties through a number of platforms, state officials said.
The jump in deaths is “a result of our continued work to reconcile data from various sources,” health officials said in a daily release, noting that the deaths were over the past two weeks.
Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said much of the increase came from information from the Philadelphia Health Department, where the state’s count has consistently lagged behind that of local health officials.
For example, the state on Monday reported 424 coronavirus deaths in Philadelphia, while the local health department was reporting 726 deaths. On Tuesday, the state was reporting 627 deaths, while local officials reported 743.
Levine said the state Department of Health and governor’s office are working to make changes in how the data is reported to the state so that death number can be “reconciled on a daily basis.”
The newly reported 554 deaths bring the statewide death toll to 3,012. Around 2,029 of those deaths have been residents in long-term care facilities like nursing homes and personal care homes.
The state also added 865 more cases to its running total, which has reached 50,957 since the first two positive cases were identified March 6.
Health officials in Allegheny County reported seven more deaths for a total of 109 and 10 more cases, bringing the running county total to 1,375. Those numbers include 79 deaths at long-term care facilities in the county, where cases total 302 among residents at 35 care homes. Ninety-three employees have also tested positive.
In Westmoreland County, the state’s death count continues to lag behind that of county coroner Ken Bacha, who reported the county’s 31st death on Monday. The state was reporting 27 deaths on Tuesday, 24 of which were reported to be in care facilities.
In 495 long-term care facilities statewide, 9,625 residents have contracted the virus along with 1,284 employees at those facilities.
Health care workers as a whole represent about 3,200 covid-19 cases in the state.
Officials have also begun releasing numbers related to the food industry, which includes processing and manufacturing facilities, retail facilities, warehouse and distribution facilities, restaurants and farms. In 120 of those facilities across the state, 2,032 employees have contracted the virus.
Across the state, just under 200,000 people have tested negative for covid-19.