Nearly 10,000 new cases reported Saturday

The Pennsylvania Health Department reported 9,834 new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the total to 548,489.

Hospitalizations remain high, at more than 6,000 on Saturday, which is similar to Friday’s number and double what hospitals were seeing during the spring peak, the department noted in its daily update. More than 700 of those patients were on ventilators Saturday afternoon.

Here are more details from the report:

Deaths

Overall: 217 new deaths, one more than a day earlier. That brings the total to 13,825.

Senior care: 47,189 long-term care residents have come down with the infection, including more than 8,000 who have died. In addition, more than 8,600 nursing home employees have tested positive.

Testing

There were 20,727 people who received test results on Friday, with 38.5% of them testing positive, compared to 33.3% on Thursday. The overall positive test rate is 13.7% since the state’s first cases were reported on March 7.

Lehigh Valley

Cases: 455 new cases (242 in Lehigh County, 213 in Northampton County), compared to 416 the day before. That brings the total to 30,855.

Deaths: Nine new deaths (three in Lehigh County, six in Northampton County), one more than the day before. That brings the total to 824.

Other developments

On Friday, the United States added a record 249,709 newcases of COVID-19 in one day, according to Johns Hopkins University. An additional 2,814 people died nationwide, pushing the death toll to more than 313,000. Thanksgiving gatherings pushed the totals, say health officials, whofear that Christmas celebrations will do the same.