State reports 143 more coronavirus deaths, 746 additional cases

Pennsylvania on Wednesday reported 143 more covid-19 deaths and 746 additional cases, bringing the state’s total number of cases to just over 64,400 , state officials said.

There have been 4,767 people who have died from the virus, which has been reported in all of the state’s 67 counties. More than 293,000 people have tested negative.

Wednesday’s coronavirus numbers for Pennsylvania were delayed because of technology issues, state officials said.

The new case counts and death toll are normally released at noon each day by the Department of Health. Allegheny County health officials generally publish the county’s new numbers at 11 a.m.

County officials said they could not report local numbers because of an issue with the state’s National Electronic Disease Surveillance System, the platform through which the state gathers and reports covid-19 data.

The health department postponed a planned 4 p.m. news conference with Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine.

In a news release issued at 6:30 p.m., Levine reminded citizens to continue to follow social distancing and mitigation efforts as counties move from the red to yellow phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s re-opening plan.

Nursing and personal care homes account for 25% of the total cases and 68% of the total deaths reported by state officials. About 4,750 of the total cases involve health care workers.

More than 16,000 covid-19 cases are attributed to 559 nursing and personal care homes in 44 counties, state officials said.

According to the state, just under 14,000 residents and 2,244 employees of such facilities have tested positive for covid-19.

Out of the total deaths, 3,172 have occurred in residents from such facilities.

Age breakdown of positive cases:

​0-4: ​< 1%

​5-12: ​< 1%

​13-18: ​2%

​19-24: 6%

​25-49: ​37%

​50-64: ​26%

​65+: ​29%

Hospitalization rate by age group:

​0-29: ​2%

30-49: 5%

50-64: 10%

​65-79: 20%

​80+: 19%