Pennsylvania reports 124 more coronavirus deaths as total case count tops 60,000
Share this post:
State health officials reported more than 100 more coronavirus deaths on Friday as the case total pushed past 60,000.
Of the 124 deaths added to the total, 89 came from the Department of Health’s continued work to catch up with reporting by individual counties. The other 35 were reported to the department on Thursday.
The statewide death toll now stands at 4,342.
Officials also reported 986 newly identified cases of covid-19, which brings the running total to 60,662. The first cases were diagnosed in the state on March 6.
The updates come as Allegheny, Westmoreland and 11 other counties moved into the yellow phase of the state’s tiered reopening plan Friday. Gov. Tom Wolf also announced 12 more counties that will make the move next week, including Beaver County.
In Allegheny County, health officials reported 31 newly identified cases of the virus, which brings the running tally to 1,582. Two more virus-related deaths bring the county total to 141.
Health officials reported one new case in Westmoreland County, where the death toll has stood at 32 since last week.
Across the state, 259,210 people have tested negative for the virus.
Another long-term care facility has reported at least one case of covid-19 among its residents, bringing the total number of affected facilities to 550. Across those care homes, 12,937 residents have contracted the virus and 2,991 have died. Another 2,039 employees have tested positive for the virus.
Wolf in his announcement Friday said that the state will begin releasing the modeling done by Carnegie Mellon University that shows the risk of outbreaks in each county. He said it will be released twice weekly to help residents better understand the criteria involved in moving counties into the next phases.
“It’s about the likelihood that one case could become 100 cases,” he said.