Westmoreland County reports a record 7 new covid-19 deaths in a single day

Westmoreland County continues to shatter coronavirus records.

For the third time in a week the county surpassed 200 newly reported covid-19 cases in a single day and hit a new high for deaths reported in a 24-hour span.

The county on Thursday reported seven additional coronavirus deaths and 259 additional cases, according to information from the state Department of Health.

Covid cases are up 52% since the beginning of November.

In all, since the pandemic hit Western Pennsylvania in March, there have been 150 deaths reported in Westmoreland County and 6,908 cases. The county reached 50 covid-19 deaths on Sept. 17 and 100 deaths on Oct. 30.

Of the new cases, 176 were confirmed and came from 761 tests — the second most reported by the state in Westmoreland County in a single day. The daily PCR rate was 23.13% and the overall rate is at 8.58%.

According to the state’s covid-19 dashboard, there are currently 71 coronavirus patients hospitalized in the county, up one from the day before. The county has 88 ventilators, with eight in use, but only three by covid-19 patients.