Pennsylvania reports fewer than 900 new coronavirus cases, 47 deaths

Dozens of new coronavirus deaths in Pennsylvania have pushed the statewide death toll to nearly 1,600 and hundreds more people tested positive, according to state health officials.

The 47 new deaths reported to the Department of Health throughout the day Sunday brought the confirmed total to 1,597. Another 885 people have the virus, bringing the running total to 42,050.

Across the state, 161,372 people have tested negative, according to state data.

In 441 long-term care facilities across the state, about 7,037 residents in those facilities have tested positive for the virus. Nearly two-thirds of the state’s deaths – about 990 – have been in nursing homes.

For comparison, those numbers a week ago on April 20 were 4,698 cases across 374 facilities, and 682 care facility residents had died.

In Allegheny County, health officials reported 13 more cases of covid-19 along with six more deaths. The total case count in the county stands at 1,224 — 34 of which are probable cases. Probable cases are those individuals who have symptoms of the virus and have been in close contact with a confirmed case but have not been tested themselves.

Of Allegheny County’s 79 deaths, all but seven are confirmed. A probable death is of an individual who had symptoms of the virus and close contact with a confirmed case. Covid-19 is listed as a cause or contributing cause of death on the death certificate, but the deceased had not been tested.

A breakdown of confirmed vs. probable cases for the state total was not immediately available. State health officials have stopped including probable deaths in their data.

The Southwest region of the state – an 11-county area including Allegheny and Westmoreland – has seen 2,460 cases to date. Twenty covid-19 tests have been inconclusive, and 29,548 people have tested negative.

Five counties in the region did not see an increase from Sunday to Monday: Butler, 170 cases and six deaths; Cambria, 21 cases and one death; Fayette, 79 cases and four deaths; Indiana, 63 cases and four deaths; and Somerset, 25 cases.

Armstrong County added one case for a total of 47. Washington County added five for 107 cases, and Westmoreland increased by three to 377. Westmoreland County has reported 30 deaths from the virus since early April.

Beaver County added 21 cases, bringing the total to 387. Deaths remained at 46.

State officials said last week they will be looking at a specific metric to begin reopening the state region by region. The metric — fewer than 50 cases per 100,000 residents over 14 days — is just one component that will be looked at, according to Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine.

She noted that one county not meeting that threshold will not necessarily hold up an entire region.

“I think that that’s unlikely,” Levine said in her Monday afternoon briefing. “We’re going to be looking at counties and at regions, and I think this will be clear as we make our decisions later in the week in terms of how we’ve calculated it.”

The reopening is a phased approach, with regions needing to move from the red phase — all of the restrictions laid out by the state over the past weeks — to the yellow phase and then the green phase. The 50 cases per 100,000 metric is required to move into the yellow phase, which loosens some restrictions. The state has not given a metric for moving into the green phase, where restrictions are lifted but residents and businesses must adhere to state and federal health guidelines.