Westmoreland County covid cases, deaths, hospitalizations remain stable

Covid-19 cases and deaths in Westmoreland County have been mostly down the past two weeks, while hospitalizations have ticked up some in that time.

The county on Thursday reported 56 additional covid cases — 33 confirmed, 23 probable, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The total number of cases in Westmoreland County stands at 26,994 — 19,052 confirmed, 7,942 probable — since the first cases were reported last year.

There have been 87,282 people in the county who have tested negative for the virus.

The county’s seven-day average is 63 cases and the county’s seven-day total cases is 444. These figures are up a bit from last Thursday when the seven-day average was 60 and seven-day total cases was 418. Two weeks ago the seven-day average was 76 and seven-day total cases was 530.

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.

There were two additional covid-related deaths reported on Thursday, according to state data. Six additional deaths have been reported in March. The total number of covid deaths in the county stands at 678.

According to the state’s covid-19 dashboard, 120 Westmoreland County residents are hospitalized for covid-19 (the same as Wednesday), four are in intensive care units and three are on ventilators. Hospitalizations have ticked up some — increasing from 111 on Monday to 116 on Tuesday and 120 on Wednesday. The county sits at fifth-most coronavirus patients hospitalized in the state.

Republican leaders in Westmoreland County on Wednesday demanded Pennsylvania Department of Health officials increase the supply of covid-19 vaccines to the county.

Westmoreland County is the state’s 11th most populous, but ranked near the bottom this week in terms of doses allocated by both total residents and seniors citizens who are eligible to receive vaccines.

State Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, said she was notified by the Department of Health that Westmoreland County’s vaccine supply could be increased next week.

According to state data, 54,394 people in the county have at least one dose of the covid vaccine — 32,224 have received one dose, 22,170 are fully vaccinated.