Allegheny County adds 19 new covid deaths; Westmoreland County covid numbers stable; state hospitalizations fall

Allegheny County on Thursday saw a slight uptick in cases and hospitalizations, and a higher than usual number of new deaths reported.

Westmoreland County saw a decrease in both cases and hospitalizations and two new deaths. The state of Pennsylvania saw cases and deaths remain stable with hospitalizations continuing to fall.

Allegheny County

Allegheny County on Thursday reported 240 additional coronavirus cases (174 confirmed cases) and 19 new coronavirus deaths.

The additional coronavirus cases brings the county’s total to 79,154 since the start of the pandemic last year.

The number of the deaths in Allegheny County because of covid-19 stands at 1,722.

After reporting no new deaths on Wednesday, the county health department said that the dates of new reported deaths ranged from Feb. 17 to last Saturday.

It’s the second day this month that the county reported a higher than usual number of deaths. On March 3, the county reported 17 deaths, but every other day of the month has had a report of nine or fewer. Several days have had two or fewer deaths reported.

Of the new deaths reported Thursday: one person was in their 30s; three were in their 40s; two were in their 50s; four were in their 60s; four were in their 70s; three were in their 80s; and two were in their 90s. Two of the deaths were associated with a long-term care facility.

According to the state’s data, 172 Allegheny County residents are hospitalized for covid (up five from Wednesday), 48 of them are in intensive care units and 17 of them are on ventilators.

The state reported that 149,999 county residents had received at least one dose of a covid vaccine, while 102,367 individuals are fully vaccinated.

On Wednesday, hoping to fend off a rise in cases, Allegheny County officials asked people not to congregate this weekend to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

“We know that this virus spreads very efficiently when you take your masks off, you get close to people, you shout, you yell, you sing,” Dr. Debra Bogen, the county’s health director, said during a virtual press briefing. “My recommendation is that if you are going to have a St. Patty’s Day celebration, keep it small.”

Westmoreland County

In Westmoreland County on Thursday there were 59 additional covid cases and two deaths reported.

With the additional covid cases (32 confirmed, 27 probable), the total number of cases in Westmoreland County stands at 27,428 (19,271 confirmed, 8,157 probable) since the first cases were reported last year.

The two additional covid-related deaths brings the total number of covid deaths in the county to 688.

According to the state’s covid-19 dashboard, 115 Westmoreland County residents are hospitalized for covid-19 (down three from Wednesday), two are in intensive care units and none are on ventilators.

The state reported that 39,563 of Westmoreland County residents had received at least one dose of a covid vaccine, while 27,822 individuals have been fully vaccinated.

Pennsylvania

The state Department of Health on Thursday reported 2,652 additional coronavirus cases and 51 new coronavirus deaths across the state. There are 1,494 people in the state currently hospitalized for the virus.

The state’s seven-day average of cases is at 2,420 cases, and the state’s seven-day total cases is 16,943, down 8.1% from last Thursday’s figures.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania is 958,382.

Of the 51 deaths newly reported Thursday, 38 are from March, 11 are from February and two are from January. The total number of deaths in the state because of the coronavirus stands at 24,490.

According to state data, the number of residents who are hospitalized for the virus is 1,494, down 19 from Wednesday. Hospitalizations have dropped 73% since the beginning of the year - on Jan. 1 there were 5,624 people in the hospital for the disease, on Feb. 1 there were 3,280 and on March 1 there were 1,715.

After passing one million people vaccinated in the state on Wednesday, the state reported that 1,113,152 people have received at least one dose of a covid vaccine and 1,065,160 have been fully vaccinated.