COVID-19 in Pa.: State sets another single-day record in cases; hospitalizations rise

By: John L. Micek - December 4, 2020 12:37 pm

Pennsylvania hit a new, single-day record for COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row on Friday, with the state charting 11,763 new infections and 169 new fatalities.

That brings the total number of cases to 398,600 since the start of the pandemic, and 11,113 deaths, the state Health Department said in a statement released shortly before 12 p.m. on Friday.

Statewide, 5,071 people are hospitalized with COVID-19. Of that number, 1,065 people are in hospital ICU units. On Thursday, state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine warned that while a coming vaccine represented a “light at the end of the tunnel,” there is no “quick fix to COVID-19,” WITF-FM in Harrisburg reported, citing an interview Levine conducted with NPR.

The rising infection rates are causing hospitals to run out of intensive care unit beds, WITF-FM also reported Thursday.

According to the Health Department, the “trend in the 14-day moving average of number of hospitalized patients per day has increased by nearly 3,600 since the end of September.” The statewide positivity rate stands at 11.7 percent.

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John L. Micek

A 3-decade veteran of the news business, John L. Micek is the Pennsylvania Capital-Star's Editor-in-Chief. An award-winning political reporter, Micek’s career has taken him from small town meetings and Chicago City Hall to Congress and the Pennsylvania Capitol. His weekly column on U.S. politics is syndicated to 800 newspapers nationwide by Cagle Syndicate. He also contributes commentary and analysis to broadcast outlets in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Micek’s first novel, “Ordinary Angels,” was released in 2019 by Sunbury Press.