New covid cases reported in Westmoreland County among fewest in a month

Westmoreland County on Friday reported 91 additional coronavirus cases and three additional deaths attributed to the virus, according to the latest data provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

The newly reported cases marks only the second time in the past 25 days that the county recorded fewer than 100 additional cases.

Since the pandemic struck in Western Pennsylvania in March, 560 people in Westmoreland County have died from coronavirus, according to the state health department.

According to the state’s covid-19 dashboard, there were 144 people hospitalized because of covid-19, with 10 in an intensive care unit and seven on a ventilator.

In the county, there are 90 total adult ICU beds — 32 remain available — and 96 total ventilators with 20 in use by patients suffering any ailment.

Of the newly reported cases, 77 were confirmed. The state Department of Health defines a probable case as one in which a patient has “a positive serology (antibody) test and either covid-19 symptoms or a high-risk exposure” to someone who has been confirmed to have coronavirus.

The county’s seven-day average is 137 cases and the county’s seven-day total case count is 956 — the latter being half the tally as 12 days ago.

Correction: This story was updated to reflect the number of patients in an ICU as 10. The number initially was incorrectly tallied.