The Lead

Pa. Health Dept: More than 11.5K new COVID-19 cases over the weekend; More than 2.5K hospitalized

By: - November 8, 2021 12:14 pm

After a second dose of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, a swarm of antibodies attacks the virus. (Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library via Getty Images)

The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed 11,589 new cases of COVID-19 in the commonwealth during the three days between 11:59 p.m. on Friday, and 11:59 p.m. Sunday, bringing the statewide total to nearly 1.6 million new cases since the start of the pandemic.

As of midday Monday, 2,559 people were hospitalized with the virus. Of those patients, 591 were in hospital intensive care units, and 349 were using a ventilator, according to data posted to the agency’s pandemic tracking website.

The department also confirmed 60 new deaths attributed to COVID-19 over the weekend, bringing the total number of deaths attributed to the virus to 31,915 since the start of the pandemic, state data showed.

As of midday Monday, the statewide positivity rate was 9.3 percent, up from 8.8 percent last week, and 72.5 percent of Pennsylvanians 18 or older were fully vaccinated, according to the department.

All Pennsylvanians aged 5 and older are eligible to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine. You can use this Vaccine Finder to find a COVID-19 vaccine provider near you.

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.