Westmoreland County adds fewer than 100 daily covid cases for 3 weeks

Westmoreland County on Thursday reported fewer than 100 new covid-19 cases for the 22nd straight day.

The county reported 53 additional cases to bring its case total to 26,550 since the pandemic began nearly a year ago, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Of the new cases, 39 are confirmed via PCR tests and 14 are recorded as probable cases.

Health officials define a probable case as one 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.

Westmoreland added one covid-related death to bring the total to 669 since March. The county has reported additional deaths in the single digits each day for more than a month.

There have been 86,054 people in the county who tested negative for the coronavirus.

According to state data, the county has 114 patients hospitalized for covid-19. Two of those are in intensive care units and two are using ventilators to breathe. Of the 96 ventilators in the county, 12 are in use for all patients.

As of Thursday, the state reported that 44,239 doses of covid vaccine had been administered in Westmoreland, with 17,070 people fully vaccinated.