The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported 357 new cases of the coronavirus in Westmoreland County during the past 48 hours, as cases continue to dip in the area.
The numbers represent 215 new cases reported Christmas Day and 142 the day after.
Westmoreland County has remained below 400 cases throughout the week, something it hadn’t been able to achieve all month.
On Thursday, a weekly high of 368 cases were reported, while 361 were reported Monday.
Five new deaths were also reported — four were reported on Christmas, while one was reported Saturday —increasing the death toll to 380. That’s 35 more than there were the preceding week.
Ten fatalities were reported Thursday, marking the high of the week.
To further put the recent death surge in perspective, the first 26 days of December have produced 181, or about 48% of, covid-19 deaths in Westmoreland County. The county didn’t reach that total from the time the virus was first reported there in March until Nov. 26.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many of the new covid cases were confirmed and the amount that were considered 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.
Saturday’s addition puts the seven-day average at 275 cases, the lowest it’s been since Dec. 4.
The county’s total cases are at 18,131, a more than 1,900-case increase from last week’s 16,203.
