Pennsylvania reports 12,745 new covid cases; 23% of total cases have come in December
Pennsylvania reported 12,745 new covid-19 cases Friday, according to the state Department of Health.
The new cases mark the sixth time that new reported cases have been over 10,000, all of these instances coming in December.
Total cases in the state are now 470,034 and will likely hit 500,000 by early next week at the current rate. Of the total cases, 108,570 have been reported thus far in December, which equates to 23% of total cases coming in the first 11 days of the month.
New coronavirus-related deaths reported Friday were 225, making it three days in a row new deaths have been above 200. The death total in Pennsylvania is now 12,235, with 1,852 deaths in coming in December.
In the state, there are 5,668 covid-19 patients hospitalized as of Friday, with 1,151 in the ICU and 651 on ventilators, according to Department of Health data. According to the state covid-19 dashboard, there are 596 ICU and 2,937 medical / surgical beds available in Pennsylvania, which are about 14% of the total beds for each type.
On Thursday, Gov. Wolf and the state Secretary of Health Rachel Levine issued new restrictions that take effect Saturday and end Jan. 4. The restrictions focus on indoor dining, gyms, scholastic sports, among other areas.
“We all hoped it would not come to this,” Wolf said during a virtual news conference Thursday.
“The situation we’re in right now is dire,” he said. “It’s worse than it was in the spring when we first took action to flatten the curve.”
Zach Brendza is a Tribune-Review digital producer. You can contact Zach at 724-850-1288, zbrendza@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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