December 15 PA COVID-19 UPDATE
The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed that at midnight, December 15, the state has passed more than a half million positive cases of COVID-19. On the fifteenth there were 9,556 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 509,320. Approximately 16,904 of our total cases are among health care workers.
Pennsylvania saw a seven-day case increase of 60,412 cases in the last week and a statewide percent positivity of 16.2%, according to Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine.
Every county in the state has a concerning percent positivity above five percent. All 67 counties across the state now have substantial transmission status.
There are 6,026 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19, double the peak in the spring. Of that number, 1,249 patients are in the intensive care unit with COVID-19. Most of the patients hospitalized are ages 65 or older, and most of the deaths have occurred in patients 65 or older. More data is available here.
The trend in the 14-day moving average of number of hospitalized patients per day has increased by nearly 5,000 since the end of September. However the growth in hospitalization has diminished over the past two weeks. According to the state's regularly updated dashboard tracking metrics established to determine when hospitals should reduce their "elective" medical procedures, most of the state's health care systems and regions continue to cope with the rising virus patient caseload, though a few individual hospitals and health systems have begun to voluntarily reduce some of their procedures.
Statewide percent positivity for the week of December 4 – December 10 stood at 16.2%.
The most accurate daily data is available on the website, with archived data also available. County-specific information and a statewide map are available on the COVID-19 Data Dashboard.
There are 34,391 individuals who have a positive viral antigen test and are considered probable cases and 641 individuals who have a positive serology test and either COVID-19 symptoms or a high-risk exposure.
There are 3,072,305 individuals who have tested negative to date.
In nursing and personal care homes, there are 44,591 resident cases of COVID-19, and 8,136 cases among employees, for a total of 52,727 at 1,409 distinct facilities in all 67 counties. Out of our total deaths, 7,532 have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities. A county breakdown can be found here.