Pa. Health Dept.: Nearly 3,900 new COVID-19 cases; More than 3K hospitalized

By: John L. Micek - October 19, 2021 4:57 pm

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed 3,899 new cases of COVID-19 in the commonwealth on Tuesday, bringing the statewide total to more than 1.51 million cases since the start of the pandemic.

As of Tuesday, there were 3,025 people hospitalized, a slight increase from the 2,919 people the agency said were hospitalized between last Saturday and Monday. Of that number, 694 people were in hospital intensive care units, up from the 665 people who were in the ICU as of Monday. A total of 397 people were using a ventilator, up from 381 people on Monday, according to data posted to the state’s pandemic tracking website.

The department confirmed 64 new deaths attributed to COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 to 30,587 since the start of the pandemic.

As of Tuesday, Pennsylvania’s positivity rate was 9.7 percent, and 70.8 percent of Pennsylvanians 18 or older were fully vaccinated, the Health Department said in a statement.

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