Covid cases, hospitalizations rise in Pennsylvania and Allegheny County

After starting July with low numbers, covid cases and hospitalizations have crept up this past week in Pennsylvania and Allegheny County. In Westmoreland County, there’s a different story as those numbers have not changed much at all.

Cases

As of Wednesday’s covid report, the Pennsylvania Department of Health has seen 4,445 new cases of covid-19 in the past seven days, averaging 635 cases per day. That is a 51.7% rise from last Wednesday.

Cases have climbed all month: on July 1 the seven-day total number of cases was 1,216 and the seven-day daily average of cases was 174.

To date, Pennsylvania has a total of 1,222,302 cases, with 1,022,302 confirmed through PCR testing.

In Allegheny County, there have been 413 new cases in the past week, with the daily average at 56. That’s a 45.4% increase since last Wednesday. On July 1, Allegheny’s seven-day total number of cases was 88 and seven-day daily average of cases was 13.

Of Allegheny’s newest cases, 295 were confirmed in the past week, with 118 considered probable. Since the pandemic began, Allegheny County has amassed 102,811 covid cases, with 77,778 confirmed.

In Westmoreland County, the rise in cases has not been as big. There were 94 new cases added in the past seven days, with the daily average at 13. Last Wednesday the seven-day total number of cases was 79 and seven-day daily average of cases was 11.

In all, Westmoreland County has seen a total of 34,657 cases, of which 23,263 are confirmed.

Hospitalizations

The number of residents who are hospitalized statewide for the virus is 445 (up 143 from last Wednesday), according to state data, with 95 covid patients in intensive care units and 46 on ventilators.

Hospitalizations in the state have been on an upswing in since the middle of July. The month started with 310 people in the hospital for covid then slid down to 243 people on July 13, but has risen since.

According to the state’s data, 62 Allegheny County residents are hospitalized for covid (up 19 from last Wednesday), 14 of them are in intensive care units and eight of them are on ventilators.

After hovering in the 20s earlier in July, hospitalizations in the county have mostly risen each day.

In Westmoreland County, three covid patients (down one from last Wednesday) are hospitalized. Hospitalizations in Westmoreland have been low in July — the figure has been under eight the entire month.

Deaths

In the past week, the state Department of Health reported 25 covid-related deaths in Pennsylvania. The number of deaths from covid in the state has dropped, the seven-day total number has not been as low since the beginning on the pandemic.

The total number of covid deaths in the state is 27,838 since the pandemic began.

Allegheny County reported 15 deaths over the past week, putting its total at 2,005. While the state reported just one covid death in Allegheny County in the past week, putting the county’s running total at 2,026. The disparity has not been accounted for by either side.

Allegheny County stated 11 of the newly-reported deaths were associated with long-term care homes and all of the deaths were of people over 65 years old. One of the deaths was from July, one from June and the others were from the fall of last year, according to the county.

Westmoreland County saw no deaths reported in the past week and just three deaths added to its toll in July.

The total number of covid deaths in Westmoreland is 781.

Vaccinations

While on Tuesday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that even vaccinated people wear masks indoors in parts of the U.S. where coronavirus cases are surging, Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf said that he was not considering another statewide mask mandate.

Instead he is continuing to push people to get the vaccine.

“I don’t mean to be cavalier about it, but our strategy here in Pennsylvania has been the vaccine and that has worked,” Wolf said. “And I think the numbers nationally show it has worked. If you want to protect yourself or your family against covid, get the vaccine.”

Over the past week, 44,249 more Pennsylvanians age 18 and older became fully vaccinated, bringing the total number to 6,355,406 (62.5%). The state’s tally of that age group’s portion with at least one covid shot is 7,907,600 (77.8%).

The percentage of Pennsylvanians 18 and older fully vaccinated has climbed from 60% on July 1.

In Allegheny County, there are 732,989 (59.9%) with at least one dose and 671,744 (54.9%) that are fully vaccinated. Of those 18 and older, 67.4% are fully vaccinated and 73.6% have at least one dose.

In Westmoreland County, there are 171,401 (46.9%) with at least one dose and 157,780 (43.2%) that are fully vaccinated. Of those 18 and older, 52.8% are fully vaccinated and 57.3% have at least one dose.

All Pennsylvanians age 12 and older are eligible for the covid vaccine.