Pennsylvania surpasses 9,000 covid deaths in 2021, as new cases continue to drop

As new covid cases throughout Pennsylvania continued to decrease, the state on Wednesday surpassed 9,000 deaths recorded in 2021.

The Allegheny County Health Department reported 93 additional covid cases Wednesday, bringing its total to 100,460. The county’s seven-day average of new cases dropped to 128, its lowest since 118 on Oct. 27.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health added 1,257 cases with its total climbing to 1,190,102. The state’s seven-day average dropped to 1,550, the lowest since an average of 1,549 on Oct. 22.

Westmoreland County added 39 cases for a total of 33,744. Its seven-day average fell to 43, the lowest since 37 on Oct. 7.

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

• Armstrong: 5,924 (+3)
• Beaver: 15,268 (+16)
• Butler: 17,276 (+18)
• Fayette: 12,990 (+22)
• Indiana: 6,232 (+18)
• Somerset: 7,852 (+10)
• Washington: 17,530 (+18)

Philadelphia had the most cases in the state with 206, followed by Allegheny (93), York (71), Luzerne (58) and Berks (54).

Deaths

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 54 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the state’s total to 26,925. Of those, 9,049 have occurred in 2021, with 17,876 happening in 2020. Of the 54 deaths reported Wednesday, 50 are from May and four are from April.

Allegheny County’s health department reported five deaths, with the dates of death ranging from Oct. 23 to May 13. The county’s death total is now 1,929. One person was in their 40s, one was in their 50s, one was in their 60s, one was in their 70s and one was in their 90s. The state’s health department, meanwhile, added seven deaths to its Allegheny County tally, which now stands at 1,956. The discrepancy between the two health departments hasn’t been fully explained.

Westmoreland County’s death total climbed by two to 760. Elsewhere in the region, Fayette and Indiana each added one to their totals (found below).

• Armstrong: 137
• Beaver: 380
• Butler: 413
• Fayette: 314
• Indiana: 175
• Somerset: 208
• Washington: 298

Long-term care facilities in Pennsylvania have accounted for about 49% of the state’s deaths, with 13,230 deaths in the state’s 1,591 nursing and personal care homes, according to state data. Montgomery (1,106) and Allegheny (1,035) are the only two counties with more than a thousand deaths in those facilities. Westmoreland County is 13th in the state with 319.

Hospitalizations

Covid hospitalizations in Pennsylvania decreased by 74 on Wednesday, down to 1,353. It’s the lowest total since Nov. 2, when 1,352 were hospitalized throughout Pennsylvania. The state currently has 316 covid patients in ICUs and 212 requiring a ventilator.

Allegheny County stayed the same with 137 covid hospitalizations. The county has 51 covid patients in the ICU, an increase of two, and 31 patients on ventilators, an increase of six.

In Westmoreland County, hospitalizations shrunk by eight to 23, with four patients in the ICU and five needing a ventilator.

Vaccinations

Pennsylvania reached 50 percent of its population 18 and older becoming fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pennsylvania now has 5,088,210 people 18 and older fully vaccinated.

More than 42% of Allegheny County’s population is fully vaccinated, according to data from the state’s vaccine dashboard. The county has 515,047 people fully vaccinated and another 202,189 partially vaccinated. That puts the county at 58.63% with at least one covid vaccine shot.

In Westmoreland County, 35.13% of the county is fully vaccinated. There are 128,292 people fully vaccinated and 36,040 partially vaccinated, which puts the county at 45% with at least one shot.