State hits 12,884 new cases

Pennsylvania’s battle with the coronavirus hit another grim milestone Saturday as 12,884 new cases were reported by the state Department of Health — a nearly a five-fold increase from one month ago and the highest daily count to date, state health officials said.

That number includes 667 new infections in the Lehigh Valley: 291 in Northampton County and 376 in Lehigh County, for a total of 23,257 cases. Five more people died here from COVID-19, one in Northampton and four in Lehigh, for a total of 743 deaths.

There have been 411,484 positive cases statewide since the start of the pandemic and 11,262 deaths, including 149 on Saturday.

There were 5,272 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 Saturday afternoon, with 1,066 in intensive care and 573 on ventilators. Most hospitalized patients were over 65, and most deaths also have occurred in seniors.

Pennsylvania on Friday began following new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines shortening coronavirus quarantines for people showing no symptoms or testing negative after a certain number of days. Though the CDC advises people to quarantine for the full 14 days it takes for the virus to incubate, they now have the option of ending quarantine if showing no symptoms by the 10th day, the Department of Health said.