Health department: COVID-19 hospitalizations surging again
There are now more than twice the number of people hospitalized in Pennsylvania because of COVID-19 than there were in the spring, according to the state’s health department.
As of Friday at 12 p.m., there were 6,209 individuals in Pennsylvania hospitals, with 1,246 of them in intensive-care units. The trend in the 14-day moving average of hospitalized patients per day has increased by 5,300 since the end of September.
In Washington County, two new deaths were reported, bringing the countywide death toll to 108 since March. There were 99 additional cases reported, bringing the cumulative total to 7,252. In Greene County, 22 additional cases were reported, bringing its total to 1,246. Fayette County added 127 new cases. Since the start of the pandemic, the county has had 5,360 cases and 54 deaths.
For the second day in a row, the number of new cases in Allegheny County dipped below 1,000, with 827 new cases being added to its total, which is now at 44,684. There were 27 new deaths.
Across Pennsylvania, 216 new deaths were reported, with 13,608 deaths having happened in the commonwealth because of COVID-19 over the last nine months. Of those deaths, 8,047 have been residents in nursing or personal care facilities.
More than 17,000 of the cases have been among health care workers, according to the state health department.