Covid cases jump in Allegheny, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania

More covid cases were reported Friday in Allegheny County than at any point in the past 10 days, according to the most recent health department data.

An additional 346 cases were announced Friday, bumping the county’s seven-day average up to 262. That’s the highest level for that metric since March 1.

Of the newly reported cases, 226 are confirmed via PCR tests and 120 are recorded as probable cases, according to the Allegheny County Health Department.

There were no additional covid-related deaths reported in the county.

There are 146 people hospitalized in the county for covid-19, with 33 in intensive care units and 18 using ventilators, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

In Allegheny, 175,733 residents are partially vaccinated against covid-19, and 161,249 are completely vaccinated. That means 27% of the county has at least one dose and 13% are fully protected.

Cases in Westmoreland County jumped on Friday with 123 additional cases reported. That is the most reported in a single day since late January, and the seven-day case average of 74 is the highest since Feb. 18.

The county added three new covid-related deaths, the most in a single day in nearly two weeks. The total deaths are 695 since the pandemic began, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Westmoreland has 44,682 people with one dose of covid vaccine and 42,291 with two shots. There are 86,973 people with at least one dose, so 24% of the county is at least partially covered and 11% of people are fully vaccinated.

There are 23 people hospitalized for covid-19 in the county, with two of those in intensive care and four using ventilators, according to state data.

Pennsylvania on Friday added 3,455 coronavirus cases, the most new cases reported since mid-February. Those cases raised the seven-day average to 2,692, the highest since Feb. 20.

The state has had a total of 980,302 covid cases since the start of the pandemic.

Pennsylvania added 35 covid-related deaths, bringing the total to 24,741 since the start of the pandemic. The Department of Health made adjustments to previous totals, adding three deaths in February and one in December while removing one from November, one from April and two from May.

Pennsylvania has 3,257,985 people with at least one dose of a covid vaccine, including data from the state and separate reporting from Philadelphia. Twenty-five percent of people in the state have received at least one dose and 12% are fully vaccinated against covid-19.

The state has 1,548 people hospitalized for covid-19. The 14-day average of hospitalizations, 1,497, is the lowest since November and continues to trend downward.