The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported a record 284 new cases of the coronavirus in Westmoreland County.
It is the fifth-straight day the county reported more than 200 cases.
Five additional deaths were reported, increasing the death toll to 192.
Of the new covid-19 cases, 254 are confirmed and 30 are 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 a record-high 235 cases; the county reported 263 cases on Friday. The previous high of the week was on Wednesday when 273 cases were posted.
Westmoreland County has added more new cases in the past 10 days (2,310) that in all of October (2,195).
There have been a record-high 30 deaths reported this week, breaking last week’s record by one. A high of seven fatalities reported on both Wednesday and Thursday. The total for thus far in November is 89 fatalities.
There were 15 deaths reported in each of the two weeks before last; 20 deaths were reported four weeks ago.
The county’s total cases are now at 8,959, a more than 1,600-case increase from last week’s 7,315.
The recent positives come from a batch of 825 tests, yielding a positivity rate of a whopping 29.75%.
The county has averaged about 635 tests per day this week.
Twenty days this month have reported triple-digit case counts; nine have been over 200 — the five this week, along with Nov. 21, Nov. 19, Nov. 18 and Nov. 12.
In October, there were four days of triple-digit cases, including a high of 148 cases posted Oct. 15.
