Allegheny, Westmoreland counties covid cases, deaths stable; Pennsylvania surpasses 12% fully vaccinated

In Pennsylvania, the number of people vaccinated from the coronavirus has continued to climb, while covid cases and deaths have remained relatively stable.

In Allegheny County on Thursday there was a slight uptick in new cases and hospitalizations. Westmoreland County saw a decrease in cases and one new death. And the state as a whole saw cases and deaths remain stable, with hospitalizations down again.

Allegheny County

The state reported 175,016 Allegheny County residents (26.9% of residents) have received at least one dose of a covid vaccine, while 154,509 individuals are fully covered (12.6% of all residents).

In an effort to get more people vaccinated, the Allegheny County Health Department announced Wednesday that it will expand eligibility for its vaccine distribution to include people 50 and older who have certain health conditions.

Starting Friday, the department will serve people 50-64 who have high-risk health conditions, including cancer, COPD, heart conditions and many others included in the state’s Phase 1A.

Allegheny County on Thursday reported 296 additional coronavirus cases (180 confirmed cases) and no new coronavirus deaths.

While there were no new deaths reported, the county said that three of the deaths reported Wednesday were found to have been residents of other counties and have been removed from the Allegheny County’s numbers.

The number of the deaths in Allegheny County because of covid-19 stands at 1,735.

According to the state’s data, 161 Allegheny County residents are hospitalized for covid (up four from Wednesday), 40 of them are in intensive care units and 20 of them are on ventilators.

The new coronavirus cases range in age from 10 months to 92 years with a median age of 35 years. The age groups of the newly reported cases — 128 male and 168 female — are:

• Ages 0-4: 6
• Ages 5-12: 27
• Ages 13-18: 32
• Ages 19-24: 29
• Ages 25-49: 123
• Ages 50-64: 52
• Ages 65+: 27

The additional coronavirus cases brings the county’s total to 80,941 since the start of the pandemic last year.

Westmoreland County

In Westmoreland County on Thursday there were 66 additional covid cases and one new death reported.

With the 66 additional covid cases (38 confirmed, 28 probable), the total number of cases in Westmoreland County stands at 27,890 (19,525 confirmed, 8,365 probable) since the first cases were reported last year.

And the additional covid-related death reported brings the total number of covid deaths in the county to 692.

According to the state’s covid-19 dashboard, 117 Westmoreland County residents are hospitalized for covid-19 (no change from Wednesday), five are in intensive care units and two are on ventilators.

The state reported that 44,200 of Westmoreland County residents (23.3% of residents) had received at least one dose of a covid vaccine, while 40,867 individuals are fully covered (11.1% of residents).

Excela Health said it was upping its capacity to provide coronavirus vaccine by opening a clinic in North Huntingdon. The clinic will be able to give about 2,000 inoculations daily, more than doubling the amount the health system had been doing, Chief Medical Officer Carol Fox said.

Pennsylvania

According to state and county data, over 3.1 million people (24.9% of residents) have received at least one dose of a covid vaccine and over 1.5 million have been fully vaccinated (12.1% of residents).

Those numbers include both data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Philadelphia’s Department of Health, which keep separate records when it comes to vaccinations in the state.

The number of residents who are hospitalized for the virus is 1,486, down 14 from Wednesday, according to state data.

The state also adjusted its death total. Pennsylvania Department of Health added only 17 deaths to its total on Thursday, despite reporting 36 more deaths in March and one in February. That’s because the state also made adjustments to previous months’ death totals, shrinking those totals by 20: January (-2), December (-7), November (-2), October (-1), June (-2) and May (-6).

Thursday marked the one year since the first covid-related death was reported in the state. The patient was an adult from Northampton County and was being treated at a hospital.

The state also reported 3,126 additional coronavirus cases, which is the highest daily total of the month.

The state’s seven-day average of cases is at 2,638 cases, and the state’s seven-day total cases is 18,465, up 9% from last Thursday’s figures.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the state is 976,847.