Pa. Health Dept.: More than 2,500 hospitalized; 4,394 new COVID cases

By: John L. Micek - September 22, 2021 12:17 pm

The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed 4,394 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the statewide total to more than 1.39 million since the start of the pandemic.

Hospitalizations due to the virus also continued to climb, with 2,518 people hospitalized on Wednesday, according to the Health Department’s COVID tracking website. Of those hospitalized with the virus, 613 are in intensive care units, and 314 were using a ventilator, state data indicated.

The department confirmed 66 new deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, bringing the total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 to 28,998 since the state of the pandemic.

Pennsylvania’s percent positivity rate remains at 8.9 percent.

As of midday Wednesday, the commonwealth’s vaccination rate was 67.9 percent, the Health Department said in a statement.

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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.