Pennsylvania reports 531 new coronavirus cases as total tops 2,000

Coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania rose by more than 500 from Thursday to Friday, bringing the total statewide to more than 2,000.

The state Department of Health reported 531 new positive tests, the second day in a row in which new cases topped 500. The total stands at 2,218.

That total includes 25 new positive tests in Allegheny, which has now seen 158 cases of covid-19.

Deaths increased from 16 to 22. Delaware County reported two deaths since Thursday, and Philadelphia, Montgomery, Luzerne and Lehigh each reported one.

Cases in Westmoreland County rose by six to 30 countywide. Beaver, Fayette and Greene counties each reported one new case. Butler County, which has reported one death, saw cases jump from 19 to 26. Cases in Washington County increased by two to 14.

The increase came the same day that Gov. Tom Wolf extended a stay-at-home order to nine additional counties, including Westmoreland and Butler.

Coronavirus cases have been confirmed in 50 of 67 counties in the state.

The number of new cases on Friday was slightly lower than the day prior, but Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said one day’s numbers don’t mean much.

“I do not feel that that decline is statistically significant,” she said during her daily virtual news conference. She said numbers will be telling only when they show a continued and significant decline.

Statewide, 21,016 people have tested negative for the virus.

Levine said 241 people have been hospitalized at some point since Pennsylvania saw its first case March 6, a number that is on par with the 10% hospitalization rate seen in other states. Of those patients, 76 have been admitted to an intensive care unit, and 44 have required a breathing machine.

She said the 3% to 4% of ICU admissions and 2% requiring ventilators is what health officials expected.

“We might see more patients that are requiring the use of ventilators, but the numbers are consistent,” Levine said. “If the numbers skyrocket, however, that will test our ventilator capacity, though we do have stores to deal with that surge.”

Health officials said a majority of the hospitalized patients across the state are in the 25-49 age range. They also make up the largest percentage of cases — about 40%.

Out of all patients, 28% are between 50 and 64, and 18% are older than that.