State reports 6,047 additional cases

The state Department of Health reported 6,047 additional coronavirus cases on Friday, and in a hopeful sign, hospitalizations are continuing to decline.

The seven-day moving average of newly reported cases was 7,335, down 7% from 7,889 a week ago. It marks the first decrease in the seven-day average this year.

To date, there have been 754,611 infections statewide since the start of the pandemic.

The rates in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas have generally mirrored statewide trends, but both Carbon and Schuylkill counties saw large spikes in their case rates last week. Both counties are now declining to near the Valley’s rates.

Forest County, in the northwestern part of the state, has the highest population-adjusted rate of infection by far, averaging 412 additional cases per 100,000 population per day over the last seven days. That compares to 83 per 100,000 in Lehigh County, 72 in Northampton County, and 47 in Allegheny County.

The county has a population of just over 7,000, a third of whom are inmates in Forest state prison.

Deaths

Overall: 215 deaths were reported Friday, compared to 313 on Thursday.

Senior Care: 31 deaths were reported in long-term care facilities Friday, compared to 30 on Thursday. That brings the total to 9,854, accounting for 52% of all the state’s deaths.

Hospitalizations

The state reports 4,848 people were hospitalized as of midday Friday, compared to 4,980

Thursday. Of those, 604 were on ventilators, and 1,010 were in intensive care beds.

Testing

There were 17,340 test results reported Friday, with 28% of them positive, compared to 32% on Thursday. The overall positive test rate is 16.2% since the state’s first cases were reported March 7.

Lehigh Valley

Cases: 479 additional case reports, with 269 in Lehigh County, 210 in Northampton County, totaling 45,127 for the Valley.

Deaths: 13 new deaths were reported (nine in Lehigh County and four in Northampton County), the same as the day before. A total of 1,099 COVID-related deaths have been reported in the two counties since the start of the pandemic.

Other developments

Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine announced late Thursday that the state is expanding the Federal Pharmacy Partnership program, which provides COVID vaccinations to residents and staff at skilled nursing facilities, to move into phase 1B so that assisted-living and personal care homes can be included.

The program is run by the federal government, which has contracted with Walgreens and CVS to provide administrative services and run vaccination clinics in long-term care facilities.

The state is also asking the federal government to add TopCo Associates and Rite Aid to the program to meet the added demand. There are 693 licensed skilled nursing facilities in Pennsylvania and an additional 1,210 adult assisted living and other facilities that are licensed through the Human Services Department.