5,191 additional positive cases, though positivity rate decreases

The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported 5,191 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 839,239.

There are 3,586 people hospitalized with the virus. Of that number, 724 are in intensive care units and 451 are on ventilators. Most of the patients are 65 or older.

The trend in the 14-day moving average number of hospitalized patients per day has increased by nearly 3,700 since the end of September. Statewide positivity rates, however, decreased to 9.3% for the week of Jan. 22-28.

There were 140 new deaths statewide, for a new total of 21,602 deaths attributed to the virus in Pennsylvania.

The Lehigh Valley had 375 new cases, 195 in Lehigh County and 180 in Northampton County. There were six deaths, three in each county.

As of Saturday, there were 27,099 confirmed positive cases in Lehigh County, 916 probable cases and 687 deaths. There were 22,149 positive cases in Northampton, 1,166 probable cases and 567 deaths, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.

As for vaccines, Pennsylvania hospitals began receiving the Pfizer vaccine the week of Dec. 14 and the Moderna vaccine the week of Dec. 21. The vaccines are given in two doses.

As of Saturday, 1.8 million doses of the vaccine have been allocated to Pennsylvania medical providers. 930,150 first doses have been allocated and 757,766 first doses have been administered.

There have been 884,700 second doses allocated, and 173,328 second doses administered.

Vaccination numbers for Pennsylvania do not include Philadelphia, which is its own jurisdiction, or federal facilities, which are working directly with the federal government.