Pennsylvania covid hospitalizations drop almost 10% in week

The number of patients hospitalized for covid-19 in Pennsylvania has dropped almost 10 percent since last Wednesday.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Health reported 5,069 covid-19 patients on Wednesday, a decline of 544 from last Wednesday’s 5,613.

The state has 6,004 ventilators, with 1,912 in use, including 645 by covid-19 patients. There are currently 1,035 coronavirus patients in intensive care units around the state, with 16.2% of the state’s ICU beds available.

The state added 7,960 covid cases to its total, which rose to 741,389.

The health department also added 349 deaths to raise its total to 18,429. January accounted for 262 of those deaths, with 84 occurring in December and three in November.

Of those deaths, Allegheny County had the most newly reported in the region with 45. It was followed by Westmoreland (11), Butler (nine), Fayette (eight), Somerset (four), Indiana (three), Beaver (two) and Armstrong and Washington with one apiece.

Allegheny County had the most new cases reported Wednesday, with 670. It was followed by Philadelphia (599), Lancaster (410), Berks (382) and Lehigh (373). Here’s how the rest of the region fared, with the change from Tuesday:

• Allegheny: 62,439 (+670)
• Armstrong: 4,113 (+61)
• Beaver: 9,854 (+105)
• Butler: 11,222 (+166)
• Fayette: 8,704 (+114)
• Indiana: 4,416 (+30)
• Somerset: 5,762 (+60)
• Washington: 10,831 (+183)
• Westmoreland: 22,510 (+277)

The state’s seven-day daily average of new cases rose from 7,437 last week to 8,286 this week. The state’s seven-day total last Wednesday was 52,056 but 58,000 this week.

In the state, 3,416,372 individuals have tested negative to date.