February 1 Covid-19 Update

Statewide, outside of Philadelphia, a total of 2,856,992 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed as of January 31, with another 622,353 cases probable.  Philadelphia has reported a total of 384,110 cases reported

The Pennsylvania total death toll from COVID-19 stands at 49,791, with Philadelphia reporting a total of 5,442 deaths, bringing the state’s cumulative death total from COVID-19 to 55,183.

The state continues to identify more than 2,000 cases per day, with another 300 plus in Philadelphia.  In recent weeks the state has reported more than 24 deaths per day, and an average the last week of about 35 COVID-19-related deaths per day, the highest level since last May.  Pennsylvania’s rise comes a month after a spike in hospitalizations involving people over 70. That spike quickly fell off, giving hope the recent increase will be short-lived.

However, the overall impact of COVID-19 continues to recede in Pennsylvania, with the number of new infections falling by 7% during the past two weeks, and the number of people hospitalized falling by 12%.  The recent surge in deaths remains small compared to Pennsylvania’s peak, which came in mid-January of 2021 with a seven-day average of about 220 daily deaths.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported that a total of 27,149,007 vaccine doses have been administered in the Commonwealth.  Of those, 2,021,852 doses of bivalent vaccine have been administered since Sept. 2, 2022.  More than 11,209,000 Pennsylvanians received a first dose, and 9,031,000 Pennsylvanians have received two doses of the vaccine, with another 4,207,000 first booster doses and 891,067 second booster doses administered.

This week, the Biden Administration announced intent to end the nation’s COVID-19 emergency as of May 11.