Westmoreland County reports 2 new coronavirus cases, no additional deaths

Health officials reported two new coronavirus cases in Westmoreland County on Tuesday as Pennsylvania neared 51,000 cases of the virus.

The two new cases bring the county’s running total to 405 since the first patient tested positive on April 5. Of the county’s cases, 129 are residents of eight long-term care facilities, which include nursing and personal care homes.

Another 30 employees at such facilities have also contracted the virus.

The state’s death count continues to lag behind that of county coroner Ken Bacha, who reported the county’s 31st death on Monday. The state was reporting 27 deaths on Tuesday, 24 of which were reported to be in care facilities.

The statewide death toll jumped by more than 500 on Tuesday as officials with the Department of Health continued to catch up with county-level information coming in through a number of platforms.

The 554 new deaths bring the total to 3,012 and are “a result of our continued work to reconcile data from various sources,” health officials said in a daily update.

An additional 865 new cases across the state brings the running total to 50,957.