Amid fewer new cases, Westmoreland County reports 15 more covid deaths

On Wednesday, Westmoreland County saw its latest report of new covid-19 cases cut by more than half from Tuesday. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported the county added 215 new cases. On Tuesday, the county added 466.

The lower number of new cases brings the county back to its recent trend of lower cases. The new batch of cases was 34% lower than last Wednesday’s report (327).

But while the county’s cases dropped, its deaths picked up — 15 more covid-related deaths were reported Wednesday, tying the county’s single-day report mark, which has been hit twice before, on Dec. 2 and Dec. 9.

So far in December, health officials have reported 210 deaths from the virus. From March through November, that total was 199.

Of the county’s latest cases, 204 were confirmed through PCR tests, while 11 were listed as probable. 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.

State health officials report that hospitals began receiving shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid vaccine the week of Dec. 14 and the Moderna vaccine the week of Dec. 21.

As of Dec. 29, officials report that 2,593 doses of the vaccines have been administered to county residents.

According to the state’s covid-19 dashboard, there are 179 Westmoreland County residents currently hospitalized for the virus, with 21 of them in the intensive care unit and 13 on respirators. The average number of covid patients in county hospitals hasn’t changed in the past week.

To date, Westmoreland County has recorded 19,070 covid cases, with 75% of those confirmed. There have been 73,071 county residents that have tested negative for the virus.