Local COVID-19 case numbers hover, vaccine counts inching up

Wednesday’s COVID-19 report from the Pennsylvania Department of Health had a sense of “business as usual” for the tri-county area, as case increases appear to have settled into a pattern.

Jefferson County saw the lowest increase once again with eight new cases being added to the total to increase it to 3,172. More encouraging news came in the fact that no new deaths attributed to the virus were reported in the 24 hours prior, keeping that total level at 94.

Clearfield County once again added the highest number of cases on the local front, 37, to up the county’s ongoing total to 7,932. A piece of harrowing news also came Wednesday, as another death was reported in the county to increase its total to 134.

The total number of cases in Indiana County increased by 23 in Wednesday’s report for a new total of 5,783. No new deaths were reported in the county, meaning its total remained at 165 since the beginning of the pandemic.

On the vaccine front, Jefferson County’s statistics show that 12,022 of its residents are fully vaccinated and another 3,355 partially vaccinated for a grand total of 15,377. That equates to 35.4 percent of the county’s 43,425 residents, based on numbers provided by the Department of Health.

Clearfield County has seen 19,797 residents fully vaccinated and 6,126 partially out of a total of 79,255 people (32.7 percent), and Indiana County is reporting 16,727 fully vaccinated residents and another 7,924 partially for a total of 24,651 (29.3 percent of its 84,073 total).

On the state level, Pennsylvania added another 4,602 positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide tally to 1,118,470.

There are 2,833 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19. Of that number, 576 patients are in the intensive care unit with COVID-19.

There were also 60 new deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry, for a reported total of 25,827 attributed to COVID-19.

According to the CDC, Pennsylvania had administered first doses of vaccine to 43.9 percent of its eligible population as of Wednesday morning, ranking the state 11th among all 50 states.