Pa. buying ventilators, N95 masks as hospitalizations due to coronavirus grow

Of the more than 1,000 coronavirus patients across Pennsylvania, 38 have been admitted to an intensive care unit, state health officials said Wednesday.

Hospitals statewide have a collective 3,400 ICU beds, according to Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, and about 40% of them are available.

Covid-19 cases reached 1,127 on Wednesday.

Levine said of the 38 patients that required ICU care, 18 also required a ventilator. Levine said more than 120 patients statewide have required hospitalization.

She said there are about 3,000 ventilators available in Pennsylvania, including those available at hospitals, other emergency medical services and in the state’s storage supply. About 75% of them remain available for use.

She said that before the virus took hold in Pennsylvania, the state had just over 1 million N95 masks in storage, and those are being distributed to hospitals and emergency services across the state.

“We are continuing to get more from the federal supply and purchasing whatever is available throughout Pennsylvania or the nation or even overseas,” she said, noting that the state has also been purchasing ventilators to distribute to hospitals.

From Tuesday to Wednesday, 276 new covid-19 cases were identified in Pennsylvania. The cases now total 1,127. She said the number of new cases doubles every two to three days. She expects a surge of patients over the next couple of weeks.

“We are preparing for that surge of patients,” Levine said.

There have been 11 deaths, all adults, Levine said. Forty-four of the state’s 67 counties have at least one case of covid-19.