Pa. reports 2nd-highest coronavirus case total

Pennsylvania’s Department of Health reported 2,795 new positive cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, the second-highest total since the pandemic began in March.

The new cases bring the state’s total to 217,666, following Tuesday’s record high total of 2,875 new cases. The health department had 49,087 test results reported through 10 p.m. Nov. 2, a record high number of PCR test results reported.

The health department added 35 new deaths Wednesday, bringing the state’s total to 8,890. State data wasn’t updated Tuesday with specific dates, so Tuesday and Wednesday had a combined 67 deaths, with 58 from October and nine from November. There have been 592 deaths in October and nine already this month.

Three of the deaths reported Wednesday are from Allegheny and two each in Butler and Westmoreland. Beaver County has the highest rate of deaths per 100,000 in the region, at 86.2. Here’s how many deaths have been reported in local counties:

• Allegheny: 426
• Armstrong: 22
• Beaver: 142
• Butler: 30
• Fayette: 15
• Indiana: 17
• Somerset: 3
• Washington: 37
• Westmoreland: 111

Philadelphia County had the most new cases with 449, followed by Allegheny (200), Delaware (140), Montgomery (137) and Lancaster (114). Butler added 23 to get to 2,019 on Wednesday, becoming the 25th county with 2,000 cases reported.

Here’s how Southwestern Pennsylvania fared, with total cases and the change from Tuesday:

• Allegheny: 16,410 (+200)
• Armstrong: 845 (+18)
• Beaver: 2,415 (+35)
• Butler: 2,019 (+23)
• Fayette: 1,124 (+27)
• Indiana: 1,281 (+18)
• Somerset: 511 (+13)
• Washington: 2,281 (+48)
• Westmoreland: 4,761 (+90)

According to the state’s covid-19 dashboard, there are currently 1,531 coronavirus patients hospitalized in the county, an increase of 114 from Tuesday’s 1,417. The state has 5,046 ventilators, with 1,189 in use, but only 139 by covid-19 patients.

Here’s a closer look at the hospital data for Southwestern Pennsylvania, with patients hospitalized, followed by number on ventilators.

• Allegheny: 141 — 31
• Armstrong: 10 — 0
• Beaver: 11 — 0
• Butler: 19 — 0
• Fayette: 3 — 0
• Indiana: 15 — 1
• Somerset: 0 — 0
• Washington: 27 — 5
• Westmoreland: 58 — 6

In the state’s 1,094 nursing and personal care facilities, there are 26,721 resident cases of covid-19 and 5,753 cases among employees.