Pennsylvania reports 496 new coronavirus cases, 11 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Tuesday reported 496 new coronavirus cases and 11 additional deaths — deaths that occurred in April but were only reported now.
That brings the total cases to 140,359 and the total number of covid-19 deaths in Pennsylvania to 7,791.
The state Department of Health said 147,207 tests were administered between Sept. 1-7 with 5,838 positive cases. There were 12,578 test results reported to the department through 10 p.m. Monday.
The 496 new cases is the lowest number of daily cases reported in two weeks.
Allegheny County added 37 new cases, while Westmoreland saw 10 additional cases.
The deaths reported on Tuesday were from four counties: Delaware County added six deaths, Montgomery (one), Northampton (one) and Philadelphia (three).
The state did not immediately explain why the deaths from April are only being reported now.
On Monday there were 20 deaths reported, while Sunday had no deaths reported.
Over 1.6 million people in the state have tested negative for the virus; in total, 1.75 million have been tested for the virus in the state.
The overall positivity rate is just under 8%.
As of Tuesday, 81% of people who tested positive have recovered from the virus, according to the state covid-19 dashboard.
The state dashboard shows that there are 514 people currently hospitalized, with 63 on ventilators.
According to the state, there are 21,464 resident cases of covid-19 in nursing and personal care homes, and 4,615 cases among employees, for a total of 26,079 at 948 distinct facilities.
Of the total number of deaths, 5,242 have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities.
Approximately 9,914 of the total cases in the state are among health care workers.
On Tuesday, Gov. Tom Wolf announced that restaurants may increase indoor occupancy to 50% starting Sept. 21.
“While our aggressive and appropriate mitigation efforts have kept case counts low, we must continue to take important steps to protect public health and safety as we head into the fall. At the same time, we must also support the retail food services industry that has struggled throughout this pandemic,” Wolf said.
The Department of Health advises people to wear a mask, wash hands and practice social distancing.
Frank Carnevale is the TribLive multimedia editor. He started at the Trib in 2016 and has been part of several news organizations, including the Providence Journal and Orlando Sentinel. He can be reached at fcarnevale@triblive.com.
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