The Lead

Pa. Health Dept.: More than 4K new COVID-19 cases; More than 2,800 hospitalized

By: John L. Micek - October 5, 2021 12:11 pm

The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed 4,019 new cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania on Tuesday. That brings the statewide total of cases to more than 1.45 million since the start of the pandemic.

Statewide, 2,882 people were hospitalized as of midday Tuesday, up from the 2,776 people the agency reported on Monday, according to the Health Department’s COVID tracking website.

There were 682 people in hospital intensive care units, with 388 people using a ventilator, both are up from the 672 people who were in intensive care units as of midday Monday, and the 378 people who were using a ventilator at midday on Monday, state data showed.

The department confirmed 80 new deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, bringing the total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 to 29,611 since the start of the pandemic.

Pennsylvania’s positivity rate is 9.1 percent, up from 8.9 percent last week.

As of midday Tuesday, the commonwealth’s vaccination rate was 69.1 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.