Pa. deaths from coronavirus jump to 1,112, the result of reporting changes, officials say

More than 275 additional people in Pennsylvania have died from covid-19, bringing the statewide total to 1,112, state health department officials said Sunday.

The Health Department said the majority of the 276 new deaths reported did not occur overnight and are a culmination of data being collected through different reporting systems. Electronic and probable-cause deaths are now being reported using Pennsylvania’s version of the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS), state health officials said.

“We have been working to reconcile our data with information from several different sources, including our NEDSS reporting system and our county and municipal health departments,” Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said. “This is the cause of the increase in deaths we are reporting today. This work takes time and so the increase in deaths today reflects the culmination of that effort, which will continue moving forward. The majority of these deaths did not occur overnight.”

Levine said the state is verifying the accuracy of the collected data to determine whether someone died from covid-19.

“Some deaths are reported to us with several causes of death, with covid-19 listed as maybe the fourth of fifth cause of death,” Levine said. “Our epidemiologists then investigate whether or not that person has previously tested positive for covid-19.”

More than 32,000 people in the state have tested positive for covid-19, with 1,215 additional cases being reported from Saturday to Sunday. The state total is now at 32,284.

Positive cases of covid-19 have been confirmed in all of the state’s 67 counties.

Allegheny County on Sunday reported 26 more positive covid-19 cases and three new deaths, bringing its countywide covid-19 death total to 50. More than 1,000 people in the county have tested positive for the virus.

One new death was reported in Beaver County, bringing that county’s death toll to 32, state data show. Armstrong, Butler, Fayette, Somerset, Indiana and Washington counties have reported no new deaths since Saturday, state officials reported. Greene County continues to report zero deaths.

Westmoreland County reported four new positive cases of covid-19 on Sunday and three new deaths, bringing the total to 284 positive cases and 16 deaths, state officials said. The number of Westmoreland deaths reported by the state continue to be lower than the ones being reported locally. As of 1 a.m. Sunday, the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office had reported 20 confirmed covid-19 deaths, up one from the 19 the office previously reported.

Levine has said officials are working to resolve such apparent discrepancies in reporting happening around the state, particularly in counties that do not have their own local health department. Accurate data plays an important role in making informed decisions about the pandemic, Levine said.

“We want to provide you with the most accurate information possible, and that will mean that at times there will be a single day’s report that will show big increases like today,” Levine said during a Sunday news briefing. “It’s important to remember that we are looking at trends in the data to base our decisions and to confirm that social distancing and the mitigation efforts ordered by the governor are working.”

As of 10 a.m. Sunday, 2,629 people with covid-19 were hospitalized, and more than 600 required a ventilator or breathing machine. Most of the people who have been hospitalized are 65 or older, and most of the deaths have occurred in people 65 or older. No children have died from the virus in Pennsylvania.

Age breakdown of positive cases:

0-4: < 1%

5-12: < 1%

13-18: 1%

19-24: 6%

25-49: 39%

50-64: 28%

65+: 24%