Pennsylvania adds fewer than 3,000 covid cases 7 days in a row

Pennsylvania has reported fewer than 3,000 additional cases of covid-19 each day for a week.

The state on Thursday added 2,356 coronavirus cases to bring its total to 922,990 since the start of the pandemic, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

The seven-day average of new cases in the state continues to trend downward and is currently 2,428, the lowest it has been since Nov. 4.

Of the new cases, 1,886 are confirmed via PCR tests and 470 are listed as probable.

Health officials define a probable case as one in which a patient has a positive viral antigen test or covid symptoms with a “high-risk exposure” to someone who has been confirmed to have coronavirus.

Pennsylvania added 81 covid-related deaths to bring the death total to 23,868 since March. The state has reported daily additional deaths below 100 for a week.

The state has 1,962 patients hospitalized for covid 19, according to Department of Health data. Hospitalizations have been trending downward since peaking in December and the current level is the lowest since Nov. 10.

Of those hospitalizations, 412 are in intensive care units and 229 are using ventilators to breathe.

There are 6,070 ventilators in the state and 1,493 are in use for all patients.

As of Thursday, Pennsylvania reported that 2,147,135 people had received at least one dose of a covid vaccine and 615,941 had been fully vaccinated (received both doses). The state began receiving covid vaccines in mid-December.

The state’s vaccination numbers do not include Philadelphia, which is its own jurisdiction. According to the Philadelphia covid-19 vaccine dashboard, 186,065 had received at least one covid vaccine dose, with 92,011 fully vaccinated.

In nursing and personal care homes, the state reports there are 66,442 resident cases of covid-19, and 12,935 cases among employees. That is a total of 79,377 cases at 1,566 facilities.