State COVID-19 infections top 1,200 again; 7 new cases in Valley – Sunbury Daily Item

State Health officials recorded 1,336 new COVID-19 infections on Saturday, marking the fifth straight day with at least 1,200 and the eight time in 10 days with at least 1,050.

The states seven-day rolling average of new cases now sits at 1,162. It has increased for five consecutive days.

Locally, there were seven new cases: Three in Northumberland, two in Snyder and one each in Union and Montour counties.

Pennsylvania infections have increased 38 percent and deaths were down 33 percent over the past week, according to data being tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Johns Hopkins University. Statewide, hospitalizations linked to the coronavirus are up five percent. Nationally, the number of cases was up 26 percent, while deaths were down 1 percent. Nationally, hospitalizations were unchanged in the last week.

There were 14 deaths statewide linked to the coronavirus on Saturday. There were no deaths in the Valley linked to COVID. There have been no local deaths over the past eight days due to complications from COVID.

Sixty-four of Pennsylvanias 67 counties had low levels of COVID-19 including all four in the Valley according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated on Friday. For the sixth week in a row, there were no counties in Pennsylvania registering high levels of COVID-19; Susquehanna, Sullivan and Bradford counties have medium levels. Nationally, there were 14 counties with high levels of COVID, 175 with medium and 3,035 with low.

The CDC looks at the combination of three metrics new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days to determine the COVID-19 community level.

The CDC reported Saturday that 77.5 percent of Pennsylvanians 18 and older were fully vaccinated, while 68 percent of all residents were fully vaccinated.

As of noon Saturday, there were 440 COVID hospitalizations statewide, down 1 from Friday. It was the second time in five days statewide COVID hospitalizations decreased. Since April 9, COVID-19 hospitalizations statewide have increased by 32.

There were 53 patients in intensive care units (ICUs), down four for the second consecutive day, and 29 were breathing using ventilators, down 10.

There were 13 patients hospitalized locally. There were 12 patients at Geisinger in Danville, one at Geisinger Shamokin and none at Evangelical Community Hospitalin Lewisburg. A day ago, there were 13 patients at Geisinger, none at Geisinger Shamokin and one at Evangelical.

The one patient at Geisinger Shamokin was in the ICU. None of the patients in the Valley were on a ventilator.

As of Saturday morning, the Department of Human Services reported at least one case among employees at the Selinsgrove Center. The state does not release specific totals if there are fewer than five cases.

There are no active cases at Danville State Hospital, or either of the male or female units at the North Central Secure Treatment Unit.

At the State Correctional Institution in Coal Township, there were also no active cases, according to the state Department of Corrections. Statewide, there were 11 inmate cases and another 21 staff cases. Five prisons statewide had inmate cases as of Saturday morning, while 13 prisons had staff infections.

Federal prisons in Lewisburg and Allenwood were at Level 1 operational levels of COVID mitigation, the lowest level of modifications in the federal Bureau of Prisons mitigation plans. It means prisons have resumed normal operations while inmates and staffers wear masks indoors. There were no cases at any of the Valleys federal prisons.

As of Saturday morning, there were 53 federal prisons nationally at Level 1 (the lowest), 23 were at Level 2 and 22 were at Level 3.

Institution operational levels (Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3) are based on the facilities COVID-19 medical isolation rate, combined percentage of staff and inmate completed vaccinations series and their respective county transmission rates.

See the rest here:

State COVID-19 infections top 1,200 again; 7 new cases in Valley - Sunbury Daily Item