Westmoreland County reports 70 new coronavirus cases, 2 deaths

The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported 70 new cases of coronavirus in Westmoreland County.

Saturday’s addition puts the seven-day average at 71 cases; the county reported 68 cases on Friday. The high of the week was on Wednesday when 91 cases were posted.

Two additional deaths were reported, increasing the death toll to 103.

This has, by far, been the deadliest reporting week for the county after logging 20 new deaths since Sunday, including six on Thursday and five on Wednesday. The previous weekly high of 12 was posted last week.

To put the recent uptick in perspective, Westmoreland County reported three deaths for the entire month of August.

The county’s total cases are now 4,472.

The recent positives come from a batch of 402 tests, yielding a positivity rate of 17.4%.

The county has averaged about 349 tests per day this week.

Through the month of October, the county has seen only three days with less than 40 cases this month. There were 22 cases reported on Oct. 1 and 39 cases reported on both Oct. 6 and Oct. 7.

Prior to that, the case total hadn’t exceeded that amount since April 25.

There have been four days of triple-digit cases this month, including a high of 148 cases posted Oct. 15.