Pa. reports 14 more deaths, 756 new coronavirus cases

Fourteen more people have died from the coronavirus in Pennsylvania, and the state added more than 750 new cases over the course of a day, state officials said Tuesday.

Across the state, 63 people have died since the first case of covid-19 was reported on March 6. The total number of cases grew by 756 to 4,843. About 11.4% of those tested have been positive for the virus.

The data continue a trend of each day seeing a larger number of new cases than the last.

Health care workers make up about 5% of cases, and less than 1% are nursing home residents, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said.

Since that first case in early March, the virus has hospitalized 514 people – about 10% of cases. Levine said this mirrors the percentage in other states. Of the hospitalized patients, 159 were admitted to an intensive care unit and 94 needed a breathing machine.

Levine said the Department of Health is working with the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health to create a model projecting when cases and deaths might peak in Pennsylvania.

Predicting when that peak might happen is not easy, she said.

“Modeling of infectious diseases is very complex,” she said. Many different factors, many different data points are considered: how it is transmitted, the percentage of people who are hospitalized, the effects of social distancing.”

The Pennsylvania-specific model from Pitt is what the state is relying on, and researchers are constantly updating projections as more information is gleaned, she said.

Levine likened it to weather forecasting.

“If the wind changes direction or the temperature changes even a few degrees, it can make a difference between two feet of snow or some light flurries,” she said.

In the United States, she said, researchers are discovering that the percent of people who need to be hospitalized because of the virus is lower than what was seen in China.

“Differences like this can change how models are interpreted,” she said.

Gov. Tom Wolf added seven more counties to his stay-at-home order, now in effect until at least April 30: Cameron, Crawford, Forest, Franklin, Lawrence, Lebanon and Somerset. The order now includes 33 counties.

The new state total includes 35 new cases in Allegheny County and six new cases in Westmoreland.

Beaver County recorded its first death as the number of cases grew to 52. Lawrence County, which reported its first case less than a week ago, saw its second death in two days.

Indiana County is up to six cases, and Armstrong stands at five.

Most of those who have tested positive continue to fall into the 25-49 age group, Levine said. Most of those who have been hospitalized have been 65 or older, and most of those who have died from the virus also fall into that group.