For 1st time since March, Pennsylvania reports no new covid-19 deaths

For the first time since March 23, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced no new deaths from covid-19 on Monday.

The news is a stark and welcome contrast to the state’s recent numbers, which has seen 560 coronavirus-related deaths since July 1.

“Sometimes after weekends, you may see a small delay in reporting as medical professionals or coroners confirm and report the death and the exact cause of death,” Maggi Mumma, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said in an email. “However, it does appear that this is the first time since potentially March that Pennsylvania had a day with no new deaths reported.”

On Monday, the state also announced 565 new cases, the lowest single-day posting of new cases since July 13 when 328 new cases were announced. It’s also the sixth straight day the state has posted new cases numbers in triple digits.

Officials said the state has seen 152,627 tests administered in the past seven days, resulting in 6,165 unique positives.

To date, the statewide total of covid-19 cases stands at 114,155. Allegheny County reported an increase of 68 cases and Philadelphia County reported an increase of 71 cases.

There are 585 people currently hospitalized for covid-19 in Pennsylvania, according to the state’s covid-19 dashboard — 103 of them are on ventilators.

On Friday afternoon, the number of current hospitalizations dropped by more than 200. In a press conference Monday, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said that was a result of how the state is now gathering its data.

“Previously, all of the hospitals had been reporting to the CDC and … Pennsylvania using a specific database,” she said. “The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services federally is now requiring hospitals to report to them using a different database.

“There are still some challenges, in terms of that reporting,” she said. “We’re going to be going ahead with that (new) system, and we’ll do everything we can to make sure the numbers are all adding up.”

In a press release late last week, Gov. Tom Wolf said the recent efforts the state has put in place to mitigate the recent surge seems to have helped.

“Our percent positivity decreased this week, which is a positive sign, but in order to continue to see numbers decrease, we must continue to wear masks and practice social distancing,” Wolf said.

“Going out without a mask and congregating at a bar or in a crowded backyard party where social distancing isn’t being practiced continues to lead to spikes in cases. We need to recommit to these simple measures to stop the spread and go back to more freedoms.”

Among nursing and personal care homes, there are 19,628 resident cases of covid-19, with 3,991 cases among employees, for a total of 23,619 at 856 distinct facilities in 61 counties. Out of our total deaths, 4,914 have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities.

Approximately 8,353 our total cases are in health care workers.