Pa. covid hospitalizations drop to levels not seen since early days of pandemic

Pennsylvania’s covid-19 hospitalizations dropped to a level not seen since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, there are 313 covid-19 patients currently hospitalized throughout the state. That’s the lowest total since March 27, 2020, when there were 252 people hospitalized. The state’s first case was reported on March 6, 2020.

The state’s total has declined in 66 of the last 70 days, falling from 2,808 on April 22 to the current total of 313.

Allegheny County’s hospitalizations have bounced around in the past week, rising by a few and then dropping, but they have shrunk from 109 on June 1 to 28 as of Wednesday.

Covid hospitalizations in Westmoreland County are down to six after starting the month at 15.

Cases

With 97 cases reported in the past seven days, Allegheny County is averaging 14 cases per day over the past week. That number has been in the low teens for the past week. The last time it was consistently that low was in June of 2020. Allegheny’s total now stands at 101,898. For comparison, the county averaged 1,067 cases per day at the peak on Dec. 16.

Westmoreland County has seen 40 additional cases over the past week for a daily average of six new cases. The county’s average has been in single digits for nine straight days. Westmoreland’s total climbed to 34,426 through Wednesday.

Here’s how the region fared for new cases in the past week: Allegheny (97), Westmoreland (40), Fayette (33), Washington (21), Butler (18), Beaver (13), Somerset (12), Indiana (two) and Armstrong (one).

Pennsylvania reported 1,251 additional covid cases in the past week for a daily average of 179. The state has a total of 1,212,071 covid cases since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Only three counties had more than 50 cases in the past seven days: Philadelphia (305), Allegheny (97) and York (56). Eleven counties reported one or fewer cases in the past week: Armstrong, Cameron, Clarion, Clinton, Elk, Jefferson, Montour, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Warren and Wyoming.

Deaths

In the past week, the Pennsylvania Department of Health has reported 66 covid-related deaths in the state. Of those, 55 are from June, five from May, three from April, one from January, one from December and one from October.

The Allegheny County Health Department reported two deaths in the past week for a total of 1,978. The state’s data for Allegheny County, however, has 2,015 covid deaths, a discrepancy that has yet to be fully explained.

Westmoreland County had five additional deaths in the past week to raise its total to 777.

Overall, the state has reported 27,678 deaths, with 17,881 occurring in 2020 and 9,797 this year. Only four counties had five or more deaths in the past week: Philadelphia (nine), Allegheny (six), Delaware (six) and Westmoreland (five). In the region, Washington added two and Indiana one, while Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette and Somerset had none.

Long-term care facilities account for around 48% of the state’s covid deaths, with 13,353 occurring in nursing or personal care homes. Montgomery (1,110) and Allegheny (1,047) are the only counties with more than a thousand.

Vaccinations

Westmoreland County surpassed half of its population receiving at least one covid vaccine shot this week. The county has 154,654 people fully vaccinated and 28,081 partially vaccinated for a total of 182,735, which equals 50.04% of the population. The county’s fully vaccinated percentage is 42.35% with the number 51.77% for those 18 and older.

In Allegheny County, 65.35% of the population has received at least one shot, with 626,717 fully vaccinated (51.23%) and 172,721 partially vaccinated. More than 80% of the county’s 18 and older population has received at least one shot.

Statewide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 49.5% of the total population is fully vaccinated and 60% of the 18 and older population is fully vaccinated.