Pennsylvania reports 4,000+ covid cases for 4th time in a week

Pennsylvania on Wednesday reported its fourth day in the past week with covid-19 case totals above 4,000.

The state health department reported 4,557 cases, bringing the state’s total to 1,024,857.

Allegheny County added 418 newly reported cases to climb to 85,680, while Westmoreland’s 126 additional cases bumped its total to 29,178.

Philadelphia had the most cases added Wednesday with 715, followed by Allegheny (418), Bucks (279), Montgomery (239) and Berks (189).

Elsewhere in the region, a look at the cases reported Wednesday, with the change from Tuesday:

• Armstrong: 5,170 (+22)
• Beaver: 13,214 (+48)
• Butler: 15,262 (+79)
• Fayette: 11,216 (+42)
• Indiana: 5,368 (+28)
• Somerset: 6,970 (+16)
• Washington: 15,114 (+80)

Deaths

The state health department reported 44 additional deaths, as the state’s total grew to 25,093. Of those deaths newly reported on Wednesday, 43 are from March and one is from February.

The Allegheny County Health Department added 10 deaths to bring its total to 1,772, with dates ranging from Dec. 1 to March 29, and three associated with long-term care facilities. The state health department added seven deaths to its total for Allegheny County, rising to 1,814. The discrepancy between the two health departments has been attributed to different reporting methods.

Around the region, Fayette added two deaths, while Somerset and Washington added one apiece.

Vaccinations

The number of people fully vaccinated continues to rise throughout the state, as the state announced the start of an initiative to vaccinate targeted industry workers, as well as accelerate the timetable for Phases 1B, 1C and 2. As of April 19, all state residents will be eligible to schedule vaccination appointments.

“The vaccine landscape continues to evolve as the federal government is increasing allocations to more retail pharmacy chains across the country,” ​Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam said. “To ensure that vaccine continues to get to people efficiently and equitably, Pennsylvania is adapting its plan to allow workers in targeted industries to access any of the three vaccines available at providers throughout the state and to accelerate our eligibility for remaining phases of the state’s vaccination plan.”

The state health department’s vaccine dashboard shows nearly 1.8 million people in the state have been fully vaccinated. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health, which reports its data separately, reported 266,921 fully vaccinated to put the state’s total at almost 2.1 million.

Allegheny climbed to having 17.4% of its population fully covered, with 213,263 fully vaccinated and another 207,557 partially vaccinated.

Westmoreland rose to 15.3%, with 55,879 fully vaccinated and 51,645 partially vaccinated.

Hospitalizations

Covid-related hospitalizations continued to rise throughout the state. The state saw a rise of 95 hospitalizations, going from 1,980 Tuesday to 2,075 Wednesday. It was the biggest one-day increase in hospitalizations since 99 on Feb. 15. There are also 211 covid patients on ventilators and 420 in ICUs.

In Allegheny County, hospitalizations climbed by 16 to 218, with 59 patients in ICUs and 19 on ventilators.

Westmoreland County experienced a slight drop to 22, with five patients in ICUs and three on ventilators. It’s been two weeks, and the state health department has yet to explain its data error that saw hospitalizations in the county suddenly drop from 117 on March 17 to 26 on March 18.