STATE SURPASSES 1M COVID-19 CASES
Milestone reached as surge in infections continues
Pennsylvania added more than 3,600 coronavirus cases Thursday, continuing a two-week surge in infections and sending the state past the grim milestone of 1 million cases since the start of the pandemic.
There have been 1,000,240 infections recorded, putting the state in the company of California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Georgia and Ohio in tallying more than a million cases since Jan. 21 of last year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The seven-day moving average of newly reported cases was 3,342, up 27% from 2,638 a week ago and up almost 26% from 30 days ago. There have been more than 85,000 cases reported in the last 30 days.
When adjusted for population, the CDC report shows that Pennsylvania fares pretty well by comparison, ranking 42nd out of the 50 states plus two jurisdictions — District of Columbia and New York City, which is administered separately from New York state — for the number of cases per 100,000 residents.
Pennsylvania has 7,748 cases per 100,000 residents, or 7.7% of its population known to have been infected. The top rate is
held by North Dakota, at 13,385 per 100,000, or 13.4% of its population. At just under 2% of its population known to have been infected, Hawaii has the lowest rate.
The same metric for the last seven days shows Pennsylvania jumping to ninth out of the 52 CDC jurisdictions, reflecting the recent increase in case rates. The highest seven-day rate is 352 cases per 100,000, in New York City. That’s more than twice Pennsylvania’s rate of about 166.
Vaccinations
Gov. Tom Wolf touted the state’s improvements in vaccination deliveries during a Thursday morning visit to a clinic in Scranton.
He admitted difficulties in getting vaccine to all the people who want it, noting both the constrained supply from the federal government and the state’s uneven health care infrastructure. The Scranton clinic is the only federally qualified health care center in Lackawanna County, making for a difficult trek for the substantial portion of the state’s 1A group that have mobility and transportation difficulties.
Wolf said the effort to get school and child care employees vaccinated will be completed about two weeks ahead of schedule. He also announced a partnership with Medical Assistance Managed Care Organizations and county-based Area Agencies on Aging to help everyone in 1A make an appointment, as well as initiatives to get homebound people vaccinated in their homes if they can’t get to a pharmacy or clinic.
Combined numbers from the Philadelphia and state health departments show almost 3.3 million Pennsylvanians have received 5.1 million vaccinations, accounting for 31.3% of the age 16-and-over population that is eligible, with 1.8 million residents fully immunized and another 1.5 million waiting for their second shot.
More than 195,000 Lehigh Valley residents have received 299,000 vaccinations. Almost 104,000 local residents, or 19% of those eligible, are fully immunized. An additional 91,000 people — 16.7% of those eligible — are awaiting their follow-up shot.
The state, including Philadelphia, is averaging better than 98,000 vaccinations per day. More than 320,000 first doses of the three vaccines were allocated to Pennsylvania by the CDC for delivery this week. That is on top of doses administered in nursing home clinics and those sent directly to pharmacies in a separate federal program.
State numbers
There were 41 deaths reported Thursday, compared with 48 Wednesday. The seven-day moving average of deaths per day is 30, compared with 31 a week ago.
The state’s death toll is 24,917; of that, 12,889 are of senior care residents or workers, accounting for 51.7% of the total.
There were 1,717 people hospitalized as of midday Thursday, compared with 1,652 Wednesday. Of those, 194 were on ventilators, and 358 were in intensive care beds.
Area hospitals report 144 COVID-19 patients, with 24 in intensive care and 16 on ventilators, about the same as Wednesday.
There were 10,849 test results reported Thursday, with 26.3% of them positive, compared with 23.8% on Wednesday.
The overall positive test rate is 17.3% since the state’s first cases were reported March 6 of last year.
The Lehigh Valley reported, 365 additional cases, 163 in Lehigh County and 202 in Northampton County. That brings the region’s total to 62,702.
One new death was reported in Lehigh County, compared with four the day before. That brings the total to 1,476, (803 in Lehigh County, and 673 in Northampton County).