Pennsylvania saw record declines in covid numbers in February

In February, Pennsylvania saw the steepest decline in new cases of the entire pandemic.

The state went from 202,899 new cases in January to 88,418 new cases in February — a 56% drop. Even though February has three fewer days than January, if you were to add three days of February’s most recent seven-day new case average (2,592), the decline would still be more than 52%.

The next highest drop from month to month in new cases was 44% from May to June.

On Monday, the Wolf administration announced revised and lifted mitigation restrictions that are effective immediately statewide.

“Pennsylvania is taking a measured approach to revising or lifting mitigation orders,” Gov. Tom Wolf said in a news release. “The reason we are seeing cases drop can be attributed, in part, to people following the mitigation efforts we have in place. Mask-wearing, social distancing and hand hygiene are making a difference and need to continue even as we see more and more people fully vaccinated. We need to balance protecting public health with leading the state to a robust economic recovery. We are lifting mitigation efforts only when we believe it is safe to do so.”

The eased restrictions include revised maximum occupancy limits for indoor events — regardless of venue size — to allow for 15% of maximum occupancy and outdoor events to 20% of maximum occupancy, and the elimination of out-of-state travel restrictions.

In February, Philadelphia County saw the largest number of reported cases with 8,934. It was followed by Allegheny (7,132), Montgomery (5,089), Lancaster (4,970) and Bucks (4,697).

Westmoreland County ranked 12th for February in new covid cases. Other Western Pennsylvania counties: Erie (16th; 1,690), Beaver (19th; 1,228), Butler (22nd; 1,143), Washington (24th; 1,105), Fayette (30th; 755), Lawrence (35th; 536), Indiana (46th; 303) and Armstrong (48th; 292).

Reported covid-related deaths in February also declined sharply. In January, the state reported 5,683 deaths. In February, that number was 2,360 — a 58.5% decline. While the true dates of death vary — with some eventually adjusted to previous months — the reporting of them remains comparable.

When it comes to hospitalization numbers, there were 3,280 Pennsylvanians in care for covid-19 at the start of the month. By Sunday, that number had dropped 47.6% to 1,720.

Newest numbers

Over the past two days, the state reported 3,573 new cases, with 2,962 confirmed through PCR tests and 604 listed as probable. Health officials define a probable case as one in which a patient has a positive viral antigen test or covid symptoms with a “high-risk exposure” to someone who has been confirmed to have coronavirus.

Statewide percent positivity for the week of Feb. 19-25 stood at 6.3%.

Among the state’s 1,567 licensed nursing and personal care homes, there have been 66,936 resident cases of covid-19, with 13,073 cases among employees. About 24,799 of the state’s total covid cases have been among health care workers.

Allegheny County saw the largest number of new cases over the past two days, with 404. It was followed by Philadelphia (330), Montgomery (270), Bucks (262) and Delaware (184).

Officials reported 26 new deaths over the past two days, with the most coming in Philadelphia County (four).

On Monday, the state’s Open Data site was reporting 1,715 state residents are hospitalized for covid, with 366 in intensive care units and 203 on ventilators.

Since the pandemic began last March, Pennsylvania has recorded 933,270 cases of coronavirus, with 803,009 of those cases confirmed through PCR tests.