PA Covid-19 Update
April 19, 2021
Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise, with 24,394 cases for the week ending April 15, an increase much below the prior two weeks when increases were over 3,000 cases each week. The number is approximately in line with levels from early February, according to data from the Department of Health, but may be more significant because of the large increase in virus testing.
During the week ending April 15, more than 324,000 tests were conducted in Pennsylvania. That said, 63 of the 67 counties remain above the five percent threshold for considering community virus transmission high, and 28 counties are above the state average of 9.6 percent – including Philadelphia. Thirty-seven counties ended the week with a higher positivity level.
According to the DoH, the seven-day daily average of hospitalizations grew by 199.3, to 2,532.9, for the seven-day period ending on April 15. While this was the fifth consecutive week of hospitalization increases, the figure currently appears to be plateauing, similar to reported virus case totals. Similarly, the daily figure for Covid-19 patients in ICU beds is increasing slowly, up to 551 from less than 300 five weeks ago. Hospitalized patients needing ventilator assistance also increased from for the fourth straight week from 173 last month to 278 last week. Virus related deaths is also increasing and at 283, was above the weekly totals from any of the last five weeks. In early February, the weekly death total was more than 1,300.
The DoH reported Monday, that as of midnight Sunday April 19, there were 1,914 additional positive cases of COVID-19, in addition to 3,761 new cases reported April 18, for a two-day total of 5,675 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 1,109,291.
Currently, 2,638 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19. Of that number, 551 patients are in the intensive care unit with COVID-19. More data is available here. The current 14-day average is also below what it was at the height of the spring peak last year on May 3, 2020.
As a reminder, daily data is available on the website, with archived data also available.
COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution
The Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine was first allocated to Pennsylvania the week of March 1, but shipments to Pennsylvania providers are currently paused out of an abundance of caution. Vaccination numbers for Pennsylvania do not include Philadelphia, which is its own jurisdiction, or federal facilities, which are working directly with the federal government.
According to the CDC, as of Monday morning, April 19, Pennsylvania has administered first doses of vaccine to 43.2% of its eligible population, and the state ranks 10th among all 50 states for first doses administered by percentage of population. Vaccine providers have administered 4,638,111 people with at least their first vaccine doses as of Monday, April 19, with 2,772,009 people fully vaccinated; the seven-day moving average of is more than 97,100 people per day receiving vaccinations.
In licensed nursing and personal care homes, there are 70,168 resident cases of COVID-19, and 14,594 cases among employees, for a total of 84,762 at 1,585 distinct facilities in all 67 counties. Out of total deaths reported to PA-NEDSS, 13,028 have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities. A county breakdown can be found here. Approximately 27,211 of the total cases are among health care workers.