1 year after covid hit Pa: nearly 1 million cases, more than 24,000 deaths

Pennsylvania health officials on Saturday reported 2,789 new coronavirus cases, exactly one year after the virus was first discovered in the Keystone State.

Two people were reported quarantined on March 6, 2020 in the eastern part of the state after they were presumed positive to have contracted covid-19.

Saturday’s data bring the total cases to 946,985.

That’s a jump of about 17,200 additional cases from this time last week. Two weeks ago, the increase was about 18,100; three weeks ago it was about 19,300. Four weeks ago it was 27,000.

Officials said around 134,000 of the 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 55 new deaths.

The total number of covid-19 deaths in Pennsylvania is 24,317 — 317 more fatalities than last week (24,000). Two weeks ago deaths increased by 430. Three weeks ago it was an increase of nearly 500. And four weeks ago, the change was more than triple that, at 1,600.

Health officials say there are 1,513 patients hospitalized in the state, representing 272 fewer patients than at this time last week. Two weeks ago the change was 275. Three weeks ago it was 487 fewer.

Of the new number, 325 covid-19 patients (down by 63) are in an intensive care unit. There are currently 171 patients on ventilators (down by 38).

Officials say positivity rate in the state during the past week is 6.3%, a couple tenths of a percentage point down from this time last week.

Out of the new cases reported Saturday, 276 — or nearly 10% — are from Allegheny County.

Philadelphia reported an increase of 309, accounting for 11% of cases — just over a single percentage point higher, despite Philadelphia having a larger population than Allegheny County.

West­moreland County reported 61, which amounted to 2% of the state’s new cases.

Other Western Pennsylvania counties included: Washington (41), Beaver (34), Lawrence (24), Butler (21), Somerset (17), Fayette (14), Indiana (12) and Armstrong (5).

More than 3.93 million people in Pennsylvania have tested negative for the virus out of the more than 4.88 million people in the state who have been tested.

The overall positivity rate is around 16.6%.

According to state officials, hospitals began administering two-shot vaccines using Pfizer-BioNTech to fight the novel virus the week of Dec. 14. Shipments of Moderna’s two-shot vaccine came in the following week. The shots are administered in two doses and have to be spaced out several weeks.

On March 1, the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine became available in the state. Officials say they will be using it for a special initiative involving school and child care workers.

As of Saturday, the state reports 1.96 million Pennsylvanians have received at least one dose of a covid vaccine, while nearly 910,000 residents have received with both doses.

That means about 15.4% of the state’s population has at least one dose of a covid vaccine. When factoring out the 20.6% of Pennsylvanians under 18 (thus unable to get the vaccine), that becomes 19.3% of the vaccine-eligible population has at least one dose.

Officials noted that this total include vaccines administered through CVS and Walgreens as part of the Federal Pharmacy Partnership. However, these numbers neither include records from Philadelphia, which is its own jurisdiction, nor do they include vaccines administered at federal facilities which are working directly with the federal government.

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 67,791 cases in residents and 13,431 in employees.

There have been 12,631 deaths at nursing and personal care homes.

These deaths account for about 52% of the state’s total. About 1,561 nursing facilities have been affected by the virus.

Of the total coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania, 25,206 stem from health care workers.

Pennsylvania health officials urge 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 — even if the person is fully vaccinated. Officials say face coverings are critical preventing the spread of the virus.