Pennsylvania reports 479 more coronavirus deaths as it catches up with data
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State health officials reported nearly 500 new coronavirus deaths across Pennsylvania on Wednesday, pushing the death toll above 2,000 as officials cautioned that those deaths are from over the course of two weeks, not one day.
The jump to 2,195 deaths — an increase of 479 — is part of the Department of Health’s ongoing efforts to catch up with data coming in from individual counties and municipalities.
“(This is from) several days, if not a week or more, of reporting,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. “The count has gone up because of the reconciliation of our data systems.”
Levine said the health department has not yet analyzed where the biggest discrepancies in death reporting occurred but would work on breaking it down.
In Allegheny County, health officials reported 38 new cases on Wednesday and corrected death data from a total of 87 to 86. In Westmoreland County, the state’s updated numbers brought its count more in line with the numbers being reported by the county coroner. Coroner Ken Bacha, who receives information on infectious disease deaths sooner than the state, is reporting 30 deaths. The state is reporting 26.
Allegheny County has seen 1,273 covid-19 cases so far, and the Westmoreland total on Wednesday increased by three to 386.
Eastern counties continue to battle growing cases and deaths: Nearly 12,000 people in Philadelphia have contracted the virus and at least 424 have died. In Montgomery County, nearly 4,200 have tested positive and 329 have died. The death toll in Delaware County is 224, and in Bucks County, it is 185.
The number of infections and deaths in long-term care homes continue to grow. There are now 7,698 covid-19 cases in 461 facilities statewide. The updated death toll within nursing homes and other care facilities is now 1,428 – about a third of the state’s total deaths.
In Allegheny County, 65 care facility residents have died from the virus, including 10 at Kane Community Living’s Glen Hazel location. There are 285 cases of the virus across 34 facilities.
In Westmoreland, according to state data, 131 cases across eight facilities have led to 22 deaths of residents in care facilities.
That data comes on the heels of a Yale University analysis that indicates the virus’s actual death toll across the country is higher than what current numbers show and deaths are not just in those who were frail and likely to die anyway.