Pennsylvania rolls out data on nursing home coronavirus cases

Pennsylvania is now sharing data on cases of coronavirus at long-term care facilities and personal care homes in each county.

Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine made the announcement during a virtual news conference Wednesday. The information can be found on the health department’s coronavirus page.

Levine said the Department of Health’s “deep dive” into the long-term care data led to a sharp increase in the number of nursing home cases.

There are 3,316 covid-19 cases across 297 different long-term care facilities across the state, she said. Those facilities are in 33 counties. About half of the state’s 684 coronavirus deaths have been residents in care facilities — about 324 as of Wednesday.

In all, there have been 26,490 cases of covid-19 reported in the state.

The data includes the number of facilities in each county, the number of positive cases and the total number of deaths from those facilities.

In Allegheny County, there have been 140 cases and 16 deaths among the county’s 18 facilities. Those include four deaths in the Kane Community Living Center in Glen Hazel, where 35 residents and 19 employees have tested positive for the virus. No cases have been reported in Kane’s three other facilities.

The county as a whole has reported 904 cases and 26 deaths since the first case was identified there March 14.

In Westmoreland County, there have been 68 cases and 11 deaths in four facilities. Based on the state’s data, that means each of Westmoreland’s deaths was associated with a nursing home.

The state continues to report a lower number of deaths than Westmoreland County officials.

Westmoreland Coroner Ken Bacha reported three additional deaths Wednesday morning, bringing the county’s total to 18, he said.

Levine said the department is working with all long-term care facilities to help with infection control and to provide personal protective equipment as well as whatever else they might need to care for and protect their residents.

Those vulnerable populations are part of the reason residents statewide must keep up with mitigation efforts.

“The Pennsylvanians who provide care to this community and residents in long-term care living facilities need you to stay home to stop the spread of this dangerous virus,” she said.