Pa. covid hospitalizations decline for 10th straight day

Hospitalizations for covid-19 dropped in Pennsylvania for the 10th straight day, according to data released Saturday by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Saturday’s total of 2,207, is down 76 from Friday. That’s is a decline of almost 23% from the 2,842 who were hospitalized on April 21.

In the state, there are currently 487 covid patients in an ICU and 264 require ventilators.

Allegheny County hospitals have 200 covid patients, with 72 in the ICU and 37 needing ventilators. It’s the seventh straight day of decreases in county hospitalizations for the coronavirus.

In Westmoreland County, 32 covid patients are hospitalized with seven in the ICU and three on ventilators. The county saw a massive drop from 117 to 26 on March 18 — a data error the state’s health department has yet to explain.

Cases

Pennsylvania added 3,100 additional covid cases on Saturday, with a total of 1,154,105 since the pandemic began last March.

Allegheny County reported 271 additional covid cases — 232 confirmed and 39 probable — to raise its total to 97,521.

Westmoreland County had 56 cases reported, its fourth-lowest total in the past month. The county now has 32,705 cases overall.

Here’s a look at other counties in the region, with their changes from Friday:

• Armstrong: 5,741 (+5)

• Beaver: 14,758 (+28)

• Butler: 16,801 (+39)

• Fayette: 12,470 (+32)

• Indiana: 5,939 (+14)

• Somerset: 7,576 (+13)

• Washington: 16,946 (+36)

Philadelphia had the most cases newly reported Saturday with 382, followed by Allegheny (271), Bucks (171), Montgomery (165) and York (159).

Deaths

The Pennsylvania Department of Health added 35 deaths to bring the state’s total to 26,253.

Of the 35 deaths newly reported Saturday, 34 are from April and one is from December. It’s the fifth straight day the state has added a death in December.

There were 954 covid-19 deaths in April, making it the seventh deadliest month, surpassing March (937).

The Allegheny County Health Department reported no new deaths to leave its total at 1,867. The state health department, meanwhile, reported two deaths in Allegheny County to bring its total to 1,899. The discrepancy in reporting between the two health departments has yet to be fully explained.

Westmoreland County added two more deaths to bring its total to 745. State data shows Butler and Washington also each added a death.

Almost half of the state’s deaths (13,113) have occurred in nursing and personal care homes.

Vaccinations

Pennsylvania surpassed 4 million people fully vaccinated, according to data released Saturday.

State health department data shows 3,493,659 fully vaccinated and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, which reports its numbers separately, adds another 511,828 for a total of 4,005,487.

Allegheny County has 425,214 people fully vaccinated, while Westmoreland County adds another 106,764.