Westmoreland County surpasses 100 covid-19 deaths

Westmoreland County has now seen more than 100 deaths attributed to the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic in March.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health added two new covid-related deaths to the county’s total Friday, making 101 deaths since the first death was announced April 8.

The county has added 37 covid-related deaths in the past 16 straight days — the longest span of days with at least one new death reported.

Westmoreland becomes the 18th county in Pennsylvania to post a death total in the triple digits. Among the counties with the most deaths, Philadelphia has, by far, the most, with 1,890. Allegheny County has 435 deaths.

Officials said 68 new covid cases were added Friday, bringing October’s total to 2,125 cases and the overall case total to 4,402. Of Friday’s new cases, 55 were confirmed and 13 probable.

The new batch of cases come from 317 individual tests, and have a 21.45% positivity rate. Westmoreland’s overall positivity rate is now at 7.82%, the highest it has been since May 1.

According to the state’s tracking website, there are 50 Westmoreland County residents currently hospitalized with covid, seven of them on ventilators. State officials report there are 88 operational ventilators in the county, with 15 (17%) in use for all illnesses.

The state reports that 56,304 residents of Westmoreland County have been tested to date, with 51,902 of them being negative (92.2%).