Pennsylvania passes 600,000 coronavirus cases; adds 165 deaths

Pennsylvania on Saturday reported 14,755 new coronavirus cases over the past 48 hours, as the Keystone State jumped over the 600,000-case mark.

Officials said 7,581 additional cases were reported Christmas Day, while 7,174 were reported the day after.

The new data bring the total cases to 605,141.

That’s a jump of exactly 57,000 cases from this time last week.

Officials said 58,016 of total cases are considered probable. Health officials define a probable case as one in which a patient has a positive viral antigen test or covid symptoms with a “high-risk exposure” to someone who has been confirmed to have coronavirus.

The state also reported 165 new deaths — 139 on Christmas and 26 on Saturday.

The total number of covid-19 deaths in Pennsylvania is 14,883 — just over 1,000 more fatalities than last week (13,825).

Health officials say there are 5,925 patients currently hospitalized in the state, representing 222 fewer patients than at this time last week. However, officials say this number is nearly double the amount of covid patients in the hospital during the spring. They also noted that the 14-day moving average is nearly 5,600 more than the end of September.

Of the new number, 1,196 patients are in an intensive care unit — 36 fewer than at this time last week. These numbers show 1 of 5, or 20%, of hospitalized patients are in an ICU.

Officials say positivity rate in the state during the past week is 15.8% — slightly down from last week.

Out of the new cases during this period, 1,209 — or 8.2% — are from Allegheny County. Philadelphia reported an increase of 1,195, accounting for 8.1% of cases.

West­moreland County reported 357 cases Saturday, which amounted to 2.4% of the state’s cases.

More than 3.22 million people in Pennsylvania have tested negative for the virus out of a total of about 3.82 million people in the state who have been tested.

The overall positivity rate is about 14.3%.

According to the state Health Department, the most severe cases are seen in patients over the age of 65. This group accounts for the largest age demographic for hospitalizations and deaths.

In nursing and personal care homes, there have been 50,970 cases in residents and 9,180 in employees.

There have been 8,412 deaths at nursing and personal care homes. These deaths account for about 57% of the state’s total. About 1,454 nursing facilities have been affected by the virus.

Of the total coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania, 18,497 stem from health care workers.

Gov. Tom Wolf on Dec. 10 enacted new restrictions throughout the commonwealth affecting indoor dining, school sports and exercising in gymnasiums.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Rachel Levine urges people to continue to exercise caution when in public — mainly by maintaining social distance and wearing masks.

Mask-wearing is required in all businesses in the state, an action that health officials say is critical preventing the spread of the virus.