Pa. Health Dept: More than 16K new COVID-19 cases over holiday weekend

By: John L. Micek - October 12, 2021 12:07 pm

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed 16,287 new cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania during a four-day period stretching from 12 a.m. on Saturday to 12 a.m. on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to more than 1.48 million since the start of the pandemic.

At midday Tuesday, there were 3,000 people hospitalized with COVID-19, up from the 2,930 the agency last reported on Friday, Oct. 8. Of that number, 676 were in intensive care units, and 370 were using ventilators, according to data posted to the state’s pandemic tracking website.

The department confirmed 151 new deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Pennsylvania over that four-day holiday interval, bringing the total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 to 30,058 since the start of the pandemic.

As of midday Tuesday, Pennsylvania’s positivity rate was 9.6 percent.

As of midday Tuesday, 69.7 percent of Pennsylvanians 18 or older are fully vaccinated, the Health Department said in a statement.

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