Pa. Health Dept: More than 3,700 new COVID cases; 2,308 hospitalized

Pennsylvania logged 3,732 new cases of COVID-19 as of midday on Tuesday, while the number of people hospitalized for treatment for the virus continued to rise.

Statewide, 2,308 people were hospitalized, up from Monday’s tally of 2,239 on Monday, according data posted to the state Health Department’s COVID tracking website. A total of 580 people were in hospital intensive care units, up from Monday’s tally of 551 people. The number of people using ventilators to survive dropped from 287 people on Monday to 271 people on Tuesday.

The Health Department confirmed a total of 12,406 new cases of COVID-19 between 12 a.m. on Saturday morning and 12 a.m. on Monday morning. Tuesday’s new infections bring the total number of positive cases to 1.35 million since the start of the pandemic.

The Health Department confirmed 83 new fatalities on Tuesday, up from the prior tally of 33  fatalities. That brings the total number of COVID-related deaths to 28,651 since the start of the pandemic, according to the Health Department’s tracking website.

The state’s overall positivity rate remained unchanged at 9.1 percent, up from last week’s rate of 8.2 percent, the agency said in a statement.

On Tuesday, a Republican-controlled state House panel took its first steps toward attempting to undo Gov. Tom Wolf’s statewide mask mandate for K-12 students and children in childcare centers. The panel voted to ask an obscure state regulatory oversight board to review the Wolf administration’s order.

On Tuesday, Wolf traveled to Reading, where he urged unvaccinated Pennsylvanians to get the jab, arguing it was the surest path to help keep schools open.