As the cases of father. Covid increases, hospitalizations decrease for the first time in almost 3 weeks

With the latest numbers released by the Pennsylvania Department of Health on Friday, coronavirus cases are still on the rise across the state.

However, state hospitals for covid declined for the first time in almost three weeks. This, coupled with the fact that more than 20% of the state population has been fully vaccinated, has provided a bit more positive news.

Incidents

Pennsylvania added 5,048 new covid-19 cases to its total Friday. This is the second time in April that more than 5,000 cases have been reported in one day. The state’s average of seven days has risen to 4,384 and the total of seven days is at 30,686 – the highest since that February 4th.

Of the new cases of the state, 4 072 were confirmed by PCR tests, while 976 were listed as probable cases. Health officials define a probable case as a case 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.

There have been a total of 1,064,092 cases of covid-19 in Pennsylvania since the pandemic began last year.

In Allegheny County, 593 new cases were added, bringing the average of seven days to 442 and its total of seven days to 3,097. This is the highest since January 20th. Of the province’s new cases, 433 were confirmed and 160 were listed as likely. New cases ranged from 7 months to 96 years, with a mean age of 29 years.

The age distribution of the most recent cases of Allegheny County – 318 women, 275 men – are:

• Ages 0-4: 23
• Ages 5-12: 63
• Ages 13-18: 67
• Ages 19-24: 72
• Ages 25-49: 245
• Ages 50-64: 82
• Ages 65 and older: 41

Allegheny County had a total of 89,545 cases of covid-19, with 68,925 confirmed by PCR testing.

In Westmoreland County, there were 165 new cases – the second highest such figure this month. The seven-day average of the province is now 129 and the total of seven days is 905 – the highest is the numbers since 25 January. Of the province’s new cases, 97 have been confirmed and 68 have been listed as likely.

Westmoreland County has seen a total of 30,300 cases of covid-19, with 20,869 confirmed by PCR testing.

With 593 cases, Allegheny took the lead from all the provinces of Pennsylvania on Friday and nailed Philadelphia (590). This was followed by Bucks (307), Montgomery (285) and Berks (201). There were 53 provinces reporting less than 100 new cases, of which 40 with 50 or less.

Other Western Pennsylvania provinces reporting cases:

• Washington 15,732 (+94)
• Butler 15,797 (+82)
• Fayette 11,602 (+67)
• Bever 13,681 (+65)
• Erie 19,064 (+55)
• Indiana 5537 (+23)
• Somerset 7088 (+22)
• Armstrong 5,325 (+19)
• Lawrence 6,834 (+16)

Deaths

There are 35 deaths related to covide, reported by the state on Friday, which put the seven-day death rate at 214 – the highest so far in April. Over the past three weeks, the figure has fluctuated between 172 and 226. To date, there have been 25,362 government-related deaths.

The Allegheny County Department of Health added 10 deaths on Friday, with the majority due to data entry by the state of the electronic death reporting system. Three of the deaths were related to long-term care facilities. Allegheny County health officials reported the total deaths at 1,807, while the state reported a total of 1,838. There was no explanation for the difference.

The death dates in Allegheny County range from March 30 to Wednesday. Of the deaths: One person was in their thirties, one in their 50s, two in their 60s, two in their 70s, three in their 80s and one in their 90s.

For the fourth time this month, no new deaths have been reported in Westmoreland County. The total number of deaths there remains at 712.

Hospitalizations

For the first time in 20 days, Pennsylvania saw a decrease in the number of residents hospitalized for covid-19. As of the latest data Friday, there are 2,439 people in the hospital, a decrease of 12. Of those admitted to the hospital, 496 are in intensive care units – 21 less than Thursday’s 517. There are 251 in ventilators across the state.

Allegheny County has seen its first decline in hospitalizations in the past 12 days, with 275 now being cared for in a facility – a decline of 13 from Thursday. Of those admitted to the hospital, 83 are in ICUs and 32 in ventilators.

Westmoreland County has 43 in the hospital – two more than Thursday – with 10 in ICUs and six on ventilators.

Vaccinations

If we look at the latest data, one in five Pennsylvania residents is now fully vaccinated from covid-19. Friday’s data show that at least 2,559,001 (20.15%) state residents received the Johnson & Johnson single vaccine or both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna shot. The data does not yet contain the latest numbers from Philadelphia, which provides its own information on vaccinations.

There are now at least 4,594,900 (36.17%) residents of the state who have at least one dose of a covide vaccine.

In Allegheny County, 257,541 (21.05%) were fully vaccinated, while 477,395 (39.02%) had at least one dose. In Westmoreland County, 67,644 (18.52%) were fully vaccinated, while 121,207 (33.19%) had at least one dose.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data tracker, Pennsylvania received 8,911,635 doses of vaccine and administered 6,819,136 (76.52%) of them. This places Pennsylvania in 27th place among the 50 states in terms of the percentage of vaccines administered.

On Monday, Pennsylvania moves into Phase 1C, which is eligible for the vaccine: those in transportation and logistics, water and wastewater, food service, housing construction, finance (including bank tellers), information technology, communications, energy (including nuclear power reactors), legal services , employees of the federal, state, county and local authorities (including electoral workers in the country, elected officials and members of the judiciary and their staff), workers in the media, public safety and public health.