Coronavirus cases remain high in Pennsylania

Almost every county in the commonwealth is now at or above the Department of Health’s highest caseload category —  more than 2,000 cases per 100,000 people.

• Katie Meyer/WHYY
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Katie Meyer is WHYY’s political reporter. Prior to coming to Philadelphia, Katie was WITF’s Capitol bureau chief, and covered all things state politics for public radio stations throughout Pennsylvania.
  
  Katie came to Harrisburg by way of New York City, where she worked at Fordham University’s public radio station, WFUV, as an anchor, general assignment reporter, and co-host of an original podcast. A 2016 graduate of Fordham, she won several awards for her work at WFUV, including four 2016 Gracies.
  
  Katie is a native New Yorker, though she originally hails from Troy, a little farther up the Hudson River. She can attest that the bagels are still pretty good there.

 Gene J. Puskar / AP Photo

Volunteers load boxes of food into a car during a Greater Pittsburgh Community Food bank drive-up food distribution in Duquesne, Pa., Monday, Nov. 23, 2020.

(Harrisburg) — Rates of new COVID-19 cases remain high in Pennsylvania. As of noon on Thursday, the state Department of Health has announced 11,972 new positive diagnoses in the past 24 hours.

Currently, 5,892 people are hospitalized with the disease, most over the age of 65. Of those people, 1,191 are intensive care. An updated death count is not yet available for Thursday, but as of Wednesday night, 248 new deaths due to the virus had been reported.

Average numbers of hospitalized patients have increased sharply in recent months. Since the end of September, the state reports that its 14-day moving average of hospitalizations has increased by almost 4,400.

The sustained high rate of cases comes as state officials deal with Gov. Tom Wolf’s positive coronavirus diagnosis Wednesday — Wolf, 72, said he is asymptomatic and quarantining — and debate new coronavirus restrictions ahead of the winter holiday season.

Almost every county in the commonwealth is now at or above the Department of Health’s highest caseload category —  more than 2,000 cases per 100,000 people.

DHS is also cautioning Pennsylvanians that hospitals are reaching critical mass.

According to the state’s measure of medical resources, 33% of hospitals are expecting staffing shortages in the next week, a more than 50% increase of COVID-19 admissions has happened in the past 48 hours, and fewer than 10%  of medical and surgical beds are expected to be available in the next 72 hours.

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