The Daily Item
The number of new COVID-19 cases increased statewide, ending a string of five straight weeks with declines, according to data released Wednesday by the state Department of Health.
The report included 130 new deaths linked to the pandemic. The death total has decreased for two consecutive weeks and it was the smallest increase in six weeks. Since the state started releasing the data weekly in mid-May, the average number of deaths reported per week is 131.
Statewide, Health officials registered 11,154 new cases, the largest increase in four weeks. In the Valley, there were 190 new infections, a total that has increased for four consecutive weeks.
All four counties saw minor increases and decreases. There were 36 more infections among Montour residents, up two from the week before. Northumberland County residents recorded 109 infections, down four; Snyder County was at 25, up five; and Union had 20, down one.
There was one new death linked to COVID in the Valley, in Northumberland County. Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the deaths of 585 residents from that county and 1,009 from the four Valley counties were linked to COVID.
Nationwide, cases, deaths and hospitalizations all declined in the last week, according to data being tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Johns Hopkins University. The data show cases are down 7 percent, deaths are down 12 percent and hospitalizations are down seven percent in the last seven days.
Hospitalizations
Statewide, hospitalizations were down 34 in the last week, the fifth consecutive week the total has decreased. The number is down 567 over that span. Across Pennsylvania, there were 1,180 COVID patients in hospitals.
Geisinger Medical Center in Danville was treating 28 COVID patients, and Geisinger in Shamokin was treating 3. Five of the patients at Geisinger in Danville were in intensive care units (ICU) and three were on a ventilator — both up from last week. There is one patient in the ICU at Shamokin. None of the 11 patients at Evangelical Community Hospital were in the ICU or on ventilators.
State facilities, prisons
Federal prisons in Allenwood and Lewisburg joined 64 other facilities at Level 1 COVID restrictions, the lowest of the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) three levels. There was one inmate case at the United States Penitentiary (USP) in Lewisburg.
Nationwide, six facilities were at Level 3, the highest level of restrictions — up two from last week’s report — and 25 were at Level 2. Institution operational levels (Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3) are based on the facilities’ COVID-19 medical isolation rate, combined percentage of staff and inmate completed vaccinations series and their respective county transmission rates.
At the State Correctional Institution in Coal Township, there were no active inmate cases, according to the state Department of Corrections. There were eight active COVID-19 infections among staff at the facility, tied with Muncy and Somerset for the most among all facilities in the state. There were 52 active inmate cases and 51 active staff cases in state prisons statewide. Staff cases increased by 9 in the last week.
There were five active cases among those receiving services at the Selinsgrove Center — the same number as reported for the previous two weeks — along with fewer than five staff cases. A week ago there were 11 staff cases. The state Department of Human Services does not release full data unless five or more people are positive.
There were eight client cases at the Danville State Hospital — all new this week — while there was at least one staff case. There was at least one staff case at the female juvenile detention facility in Danville but no cases among youth. There were no cases among staff or youth at the male facility.
