Pa. one of 5 states where virus rate is climbing

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported over the weekend that 45 states are experiencing stable or falling coronavirus infection numbers week-to-week. Pennsylvania isn’t one of them. Montana, Colorado, Minnesota and Michigan are the other four states where cases are also rising.

Pennsylvania’s rolling average was 6.4% higher Friday than the previous week, and 38% higher than a month before. The Pennsylvania Department of Health did not release numbers on the Columbus Day holiday, but data from their information systems show 12,389 additional coronavirus infections since Friday: 5,610 Saturday, 3,907 Sunday and 2,872 Monday.

A total of 32,868 cases over the last seven days equates to a seven-day moving average of 4,695 cases per day, down 4% from a week ago, and up 22% over the last 30 days. Monday’s numbers, which tend to be lower than other weekdays, may be further depressed due to reduced reporting on the state holiday.

Since Sept. 1, the nation has reduced its population-adjusted infection rate from 340.5 weekly cases for every 100,000 residents to 195.3 cases as of Friday — a decline of 43%. During the same period, Pennsylvania went from 173.9 weekly population-adjusted cases to 268.6 — an increase of 54%.

Pennsylvania had stabilized its case counts near the end of September, but the numbers rose again through October — until

Monday.

To date, there have been 1.48 million infections statewide.

There have not been any reports on deaths published since Friday.

The latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows there are 7.51 million fully vaccinated people in Pennsylvania, accounting for 58.7% of the population. An additional 1.98 million people are in need of their follow-up shot. In total, 16.61 million shots have been put into the arms of 9.49 million people, or 74.1% of the state’s residents.

Included in those statewide numbers are 417,308 Lehigh Valley residents who are fully vaccinated, accounting for 61.9% of the local population. In total, 528,808 locals have received 805,030 shots in the arm, accounting for 78.4% of the Valley’s population.

An average of 37,153 vaccinations are being administered to Pennsylvania residents each day, according to CDC data. Of those, 18,562 are first doses. The number of total vaccinations per day is up 38.6% over the last 30 days. The number of first doses being given per day is up 39.4% over the last 30 days.

There were 2,967 people hospitalized as of midday Monday, compared with 2,899 Sunday. Of those, 670 were in intensive care, and 368 were on ventilators. Statewide hospitalizations have increased 4.2% over the last week, and are up 41.9% in the last 30 days.

Hospitals in the five-county region including Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Schuylkill and Monroe report 237 patients, with 49 in intensive care, and 20 on ventilators. Regional hospitalizations are unchanged over the last week, and are up 19.6% in the last 30 days.

The Lehigh Valley reported 118 additional cases, 60 in Lehigh County and 58 in Northampton County. That brings the total to 90,260.

There was no report on local deaths since Friday. There have been a total of 1,683 local deaths (915 in Lehigh, 768 in Northampton).

— Eugene Tauber