Pennsylvania covid cases continue slow decline, 138 new deaths reported

While Pennsylvania on Friday reported 4,688 additional cases of the coronavirus — the highest since adding 5,191 on Saturday — the state’s seven-day case average continues to trend downward.

Not since mid-November has Pennsylvania’s seven-day average — now at 3,947 — been as low. The current average is 30% lower than it was just one week ago.

The state has reached 861,674 total cases since the pandemic began in March, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Of the new cases, 2,763 were confirmed through 12,108 new PCR tests.

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.

The state reported an additional 138 coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the total to 22,239 since March, according to health officials.

Of the new deaths reported Friday, 48 are from February, 87 are from January and three are from December.

Through Thursday, officials report 1,164,600 doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered across the state. The Department of Health notes the number includes shots given through CVS as part of the Federal Pharmacy Partnership. Vaccination numbers do not include Philadelphia, which is its own jurisdiction, or federal facilities, which are working directly with the federal government.

Pennsylvania continues to see a drop in the number of people hospitalized for covid-19, with 3,041 currently being cared for with the virus. That is the lowest number since November. Of those, 644 are in intensive care units and 371 are using ventilators. Of the 6,104 ventilators in the state, 1,634 are in use for all patients.

In nursing and personal care homes, there have been 63,968 resident cases of covid-19 and 12,396 cases among staff, for a total of 76,364 at 1,551 facilities, the state reports.

There are 3,678,224 people who have tested negative to date, according to the Department of Health.