Pennsylvania surpasses 10,000 covid-related deaths

With 144 new covid-related deaths added Wednesday, Pennsylvania became the eighth state to reach 10,000 fatalities related to the coronavirus.

The additions bring the death toll to 10,095, according to the Department of Health.

Of the deaths reported Wednesday, 142 are from November and two are from October.

Officials report that most of the state’s deaths have occurred in patients 65 or older, with 63.7% of deaths occurring in residents from nursing or personal care facilities (6,430).

Wednesday’s report from the department revealed 6,759 new cases of the virus. In the past 13 days, the state has seen more cases (78,973) than it did all of October and September combined.

To date, the state has seen a total of 327,829 coronavirus cases.

Of the new cases, 5,993 were confirmed with PCR tests, and 766 were listed as probable cases. 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.

On Monday, state officials put out new efforts to mitigate the spread of covid-19 by instituting a one-night ban on alcohol sales beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday. In addition, new orders announced Monday scale back the maximum capacity for indoor and outdoor gatherings, capping outdoor limits for the largest venues at 10% capacity up to 2,500 people.

Gov. Tom Wolf announced a stay-at-home advisory for all Pennsylvanians. It was more of a plea than a requirement.

“We have been trying to do everything we can to make sure we never have to go back to that red-yellow-green set of draconian steps we did back (in the spring),” Wolf said.

On Wednesday, Pennsylvania joined California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Texas as the first states to hit the 10,000 fatality mark, according to The Covid Tracking Project.

On Tuesday, Wolf signed a third renewal of his 90-day Proclamation of Disaster Emergency for the pandemic.

“With cases and hospitalizations increasing, we cannot afford to let down our guard,” Wolf said. “This renewal will allow the commonwealth to maintain its response and support efforts as we face increasing case numbers and decreasing hospital capacity.”

The emergency disaster declaration provides for increased support to state agencies involved in the continued response to the virus and recovery for the state during reopening. It includes expediting supply procurement and lifting certain regulations to allow for efficient and effective mitigation.

Health officials said statewide percent positivity for the week of Nov. 13-19 stood at 11.1%.

According to the state’s covid-19 tracking website, there are 3,990 Pennsylvanians hospitalized with the virus, with 858 of them in intensive care units and 441 on ventilators. State officials report there are 5,131 operational ventilators in the state, with 1,435 (28%) currently in use for all illnesses. Most of the patients hospitalized are ages 65 or older.

The number of Pennsylvanians hospitalized with covid-19 has increased more than 215% since the end of October.

To date, there have been 32,915 resident cases of covid in 1,232 of the state’s nursing and personal care homes and 6,466 cases among workers there. Approximately 14,198 of our total cases are among health care workers.

Health officials remind everyone that mask-wearing is required in all businesses and whenever leaving home.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct definition for probable covid-19 cases.