Pa. Health Dept: More than 5,400 new COVID-19 cases; more than 2,700 hospitalized

By: John L. Micek - September 28, 2021 1:12 pm

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed 5,429 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the statewide total to 1.42 million since the start of the pandemic.

Hospitalizations due to the virus also continued to climb, with 2,778 people hospitalized on Tuesday, according to the Health Department’s COVID tracking website. Of those hospitalized with the virus, 666 are in intensive care units, and 356 were using a ventilator, state data indicated.

The department confirmed 75 new deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Pennsylvania as of midday Tuesday, bringing the total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 to 29,226 since the state of the pandemic.

Pennsylvania’s positivity rate remains at 8.9 percent.

As of midday Tuesday, the commonwealth’s vaccination rate remained at 68.5 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.