Pennsylvania reports nearly 4,000 new covid cases over past 2 days

Pennsylvania saw 3,969 new cases of covid-19 added over the past two days, the state’s Department of Health reported Monday.

To break it down, the state added 1,909 cases on Sunday and 2,060 cases on Monday.

“Daily increases are now the highest they have ever been since the start of the pandemic,” the report said.

With Monday’s update, the state has now surpassed the 200,000 mark of confirmed cases, with 201,764 confirmed since PCR testing for the virus began in March. In that time, there have been 2,338,664 negative tests, resulting in a 7.94% PCR positivity rate.

Adding in the state’s 10,232 probable cases (those with covid symptoms, close contact with confirmed cases and positive antigen tests), that makes 211,996 total cases of the virus in Pennsylvania.

The state said there were 11 new deaths added over the past two days. On Sunday, there were five new deaths — with four from October, one from June. On Monday, there were six new deaths, all of which were in October. To date, the state has recorded 8,823 covid deaths, of which 5,810 have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities.

In a separate release, the department said several Western Pennsylvania counties are among those where the percent-positivity rates are concerning. Those include Armstrong, Indiana, Washington, Westmoreland and Butler.

“Each of these counties and the state as a whole bears watching as the state continues to monitor all available data,” the release said.

The state reports of the 10,232 probable cases to date, 3,644 individuals have a positive viral antigen test and 647 individuals have a positive serology test and either covid-19 symptoms or a high-risk exposure.

According to the state’s covid-19 tracking website, there are 1,352 Pennsylvanians are currently hospitalized with the virus, 124 of them on ventilators. Officials report there are 5,037 operational ventilators in the state, with 1,096 (21.8%) currently in use for all illnesses.

In the state’s 1,078 distinct nursing and personal care homes, there are 26,373 resident cases of covid-19, with 5,691 cases among employees.