Westmoreland County surpasses 30,000 covid cases

Westmoreland County became the 12th county in Pennsylvania to pass 30,000 coronavirus cases.

The 119 additional cases — 37 confirmed and 82 probable — reported Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Department of Health put Westmoreland County’s total at 30,005.

Westmoreland reached 20,000 cases on Jan. 4; 10,000 cases on Dec. 3; 5,000 cases on Nov. 8; and 1,000 cases on July 13.

Allegheny County added 418 more covid cases to see its total grow to 88,573. Of those cases added Wednesday, 231 are confirmed and 187 are probable. The cases ranges from 6 months to 92 years old with a median age of 34.

Pennsylvania’s total climbed to 1,054,298 with the 4,643 cases added Wednesday.

Indiana County recorded its highest single-day total (37) since 44 were reported on Jan. 8. Here’s a look at how other counties in the region fared, with the change from Tuesday:

• Armstrong: 5,283 (+22)
• Beaver: 13,561 (+61)
• Butler: 15,638 (+70)
• Fayette: 11,503 (+42)
• Somerset: 7,058 (+11)
• Washington: 15,566 (+64)

Deaths

Pennsylvania added 48 deaths on Wednesday, with the state total increasing to 25,285. Of the 48 deaths newly reported, 34 are from March and 14 are from April.

Fayette County accounted for three of those deaths, with Westmoreland counting two and Butler and Somerset one apiece.

The Allegheny County Health Department reported five additional deaths Wednesday, with dates ranging from Dec. 27, 2020, to April 5. The county’s total climbed to 1,797 with those additions, which included one person in their 50s, one in their 70s, one in their 80s and two in their 90s.

The state health department’s death total for Allegheny rose by two to 1,826. The discrepancy between the two health departments has been attributed to different reporting methods.

Vaccinations

State health department data shows there are 2,073,705 people fully vaccinated in the state. That total doesn’t include clinics in Philadelphia County, from a federal facility or from another state.

Allegheny County has 243,604 people fully vaccinated and 222,433 partially vaccinated as of Wednesday. That puts the county at nearly 20% fully vaccinated.

In Westmoreland County, 63,973 are fully vaccinated and 53,436 are partially vaccinated.

Hospitalizations

Covid hospitalizations in the state climbed for the eighteenth straight day, with 41 new hospitalizations bringing the total to 2,425. There are 484 covid patients in intensive care units around the state and 231 on ventilators. The state’s low for 2021 was 1,433 on March 14, while its peak this year was 5,684 on Jan. 5.

In Allegheny County, hospitalizations rose for the tenth straight day, up 15 from Tuesday to 281. That 10-day surge of 89 new hospitalizations accounts for nearly 32% of current patients in the county. Allegheny hospitals have 73 patients in the ICU with 29 requiring ventilators.

Westmoreland County covid hospitalizations dropped by one to 37, with nine patients in the ICU and three on ventilators. It’s been more than three weeks, and the state health department has yet to explain its data error that saw hospitalizations in Westmoreland County suddenly drop from 117 on March 17 to 26 on March 18.