Department of Health Provides April Monthly Update on COVID-19 Trends

The Pennsylvania Department of Health’s summary of COVID-19 information for April 2022 showed increased vaccinations and decreasing numbers of hospitalizations.

“While COVID-19 has not gone away, the department continues to encourage Pennsylvanians to use good public health practices in their daily lives. All of us are empowered to protect ourselves and our families by getting up to date with vaccines, getting tested, taking appropriate action if we test positive, and wearing masks as appropriate to protect those around us,” Acting Secretary of Health Dr. Denise Johnson said. “The department continues to be responsive to the virus by evaluating COVID-19 trends in our communities.”

Residents are encouraged to use the CDC’s community level tracker website to see the level of community transmission by county and find recommendations to prevent spreading the virus.

April Update  

The following summary reflects the trends between April 1 to 30, 2022:

  • Following the CDCs’ approval of second doses, there was a large increase in total vaccinations for April – more than doubling March’s total vaccinations. A total of 521,066 COVID-19 vaccines were administered averaging 17,369 doses per day including:
    • 83,124 additional doses,
    • 291,809 second additional doses, and
    • 10,361 pediatric doses.
  • A total of 39,981 new COVID-19 cases were reported in April, averaging 1,333 per day.
  • The number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 on May 4 was 758 patients, compared to the 1,292 patients reported on March 31.
  • There were 403 deaths attributed to COVID-19 identified in the Pennsylvania death registry in April, averaging about 14 deaths per day.

Total deaths in Pennsylvania attributed to COVID-19 are now at 44,733, with a vast majority (72%) 32,152 being patients over 70 years old.  The state has had 2,342,299 confirmed cases and 485,583 probably cases.

The Department of Health continues to provide COVID-19 data on a weekly basis via the COVID-19 dashboard and the vaccine dashboard. All available dashboards provide an interactive experience for the user to review statewide and local-level data. The department also provides a dashboard showing COVID-19 data for skilled nursing homes including case counts, deaths and vaccination status for residents and staff. All dashboards and OpenData resources will be updated on a weekly basis on Wednesdays.