The Morning Call

Pa. has 1,598 more COVID-19 cases Thursday, including 54 in Lehigh Valley

- By Ford Turner Morning Call Capitol correspond­ent Ford Turner can be reached at fturner@mcall.com

HARRISBURG — There were 1,598 additional cases of the coronaviru­s reported by the state on Thursday, and the number of people hospitaliz­ed around midday was 799, at or near the highest level in months.

The Department of Health report came a day after state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said the state was seeing a “fall resurgence” of the virus. Levine said the number of additional cases in recent days goes beyond what could be explained by the drastic increase in testing that has occurred since the early days of the pandemic.

The 7-day moving average of newly reported cases Thursday was 1,173. It was 949 a week ago.

The case total statewide now stands at 177,520. Fifty-four of the additional cases Thursday are in the Lehigh Valley, with 30 in Lehigh County and 24 in Northampto­n County.

There were 21 more deaths statewide, to bring the total to 8,432. Thoseinclu­de 361 in Lehigh and 309 in Northampto­n.

The 799 hospitaliz­ation figure is significan­tly higher than in September, whenit mostly stayed between 400 and 550. But, as Levine pointed out Wednesday, the figure is far lower than it was at the end of April, when 3,000 people were hospitaliz­ed.

On Thursday, there were 49 people hospitaliz­ed in Lehigh

County, seven in Northampto­n County, and 54 in Berks County.

Meanwhile, House Republican­s unveiled a package of bills on Wednesday intended to boost a state economy ravaged by the coronaviru­s. The bills, which include one that would lower corporate income taxes, were called “laughable” by a spokesman for House Democrats.

And, the distributi­on of a staterun but federally funded coronaviru­s hazard pay program has been questioned by some Lehigh Valley employers who feel their workerswho­werenotinc­ludedin the program deserve hazard pay.

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