Pennsylvania saw upswing in covid cases, hospitalizations in March

Covid-19 cases in Pennsylvania took an upswing in March, though nothing like what was experienced last fall through the beginning of this year.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Thursday reported 3,893 additional cases; and the seven-day average of cases in the state ticked up to 4,073.

The seven-day total of cases is 28,510, a 21.8% percent change from last Thursday.

The state saw several days with over 4,000 cases in March.

Cases in the state reached a peak seven-day average on Dec. 16, 2020 with 10,579 cases. Since then the numbers have mostly come down with a few upswings.

One of these upswings occurred in March: the seven-day average of cases on March 1 was 2,607, while the month ended with an average of 4,034.

In total there was a 5.4% increase in cases in March over February. (Though February saw 56% fewer cases than January.)

Allegheny and Westmoreland counties have followed similar paths, though in smaller numbers.

Allegheny County also saw a high mark of seven-day case averages on Dec. 16, 2020 of 1,067 cases. For Westmoreland County the seven-day average of cases on that date was 469, a peak.

Cases in Allegheny County rose 23.4% in March over February. In Westmoreland County that was 16.8%.

On Wednesday, Allegheny County officials spoke about a rise in cases and of a possible surge in cases pointing to an increase in people ignoring mitigation strategies coupled with more covid-19 variant cases.

Dr. Debra Bogen, Allegheny County Health Department director, warned that there is a “foundation for a surge,” and said “We are back to where we were in mid-January.”

She said case investigations show transmission is happening at gatherings large and small, often without masks.

According the data from the state, Allegheny County added 327 newly reported cases to climb to 86,007, while Westmoreland’s 87 additional cases bumped its total to 29,265.

Pennsylvania’s total number of cases stands at 1,028,750.

Hospitalizations

Covid-related hospitalizations continued to rise throughout the state.

The number of residents who are hospitalized for the virus is 2,127, up 52 from Wednesday, according to state data. This comes after 95 hospitalizations were added on Wednesday, 64 on Tuesday and 60 on Monday.

There are currently 209 covid patients on ventilators and 435 in intensive care units.

After starting March with 1,716 people hospitalized, the number dropped to 1,433 patients mid-way through the month, but has now risen again to over 2,000 hospitalizations. State hospitalizations reached a high point in December and, after dropping, have crept up in recent weeks.

According to the state’s data, 224 Allegheny County residents are hospitalized for covid (up six from Wednesday), 65 of them are in intensive care units and 19 of them are on ventilators.

In Westmoreland County, 23 covid patients are hospitalized with three in the ICU and two on ventilators. The state has yet to explain its data error that saw hospitalizations in the county suddenly drop from 117 on March 17 to 26 on March 18.

Deaths

The state health department reported 27 additional covid-related deaths as the state’s total grew to 25,120. Of the 27 deaths newly reported Thursday, 26 are from March and one is from January.

The Allegheny County Health Department added 12 deaths to bring its total to 1,784, with dates ranging from Dec. 18 to March 27.

Ten of the deaths were from March and three were associated with a long-term care facility, according to the county. Of the new deaths reported: one person was in their 50s; two people were in their 60s; five were in their 80s; three were in their 90s; and one was in their 100s.

The state health department has a total of 1,817 deaths for Allegheny County. No reason has been given for the discrepancy between the two health departments.

Westmoreland County saw one additional covid-related death which brings the total number of covid deaths in the county to 706.

Vaccinations

The state on Wednesday announced that all Pennsylvania residents will be eligible to schedule covid vaccination appointments beginning this month.

The state also also launched an initiative to expand vaccine eligibility to targeted industry workers, moving them into Phase 1A. The state also set a timetable for Phases 1B, 1C and 2.

As of April 19, all state residents will be eligible to schedule vaccination appointments.

According to state and county data, over 4.3 million people (34.4% of residents) have received at least one dose of a covid vaccine and over 2.1 million have been fully vaccinated (16.9% 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 state reported that 434,096 of Allegheny County residents (35.4% of residents) had received at least one dose of a covid vaccine, while 218,994 individuals are fully covered (17.9% of residents).

The state reported that 109,920 of Westmoreland County residents (30.1% of residents) had received at least one dose of a covid vaccine, while 57,390 individuals are fully covered (15.7% of residents).