Westmoreland County reports fewest new coronavirus cases in about 2 weeks

Westmoreland County on Friday reported 153 additional cases of covid-19, the fewest in nearly two weeks. That dropped the seven-day case average to 217, the lowest since New Year’s Day.

Of the new cases, 101 were confirmed from 457 PCR tests while 52 were listed as probable by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

The county’s total is 22,866 cases since the pandemic arrived in March, with 16,681 of those confirmed and 6,185 listed as probable by the Department of Health.

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.

Seven additional covid-related deaths were recorded in the county. The county has had a total of 523 deaths related to the virus, according Department of Health records.

There are 153 people hospitalized for covid-19 in the county with 12 of those in intensive care units and seven using ventilators. There are 96 ventilators in the county and 20 are in use for all illnesses.