Pa. COVID-19 situation continues to darken: daily update

Pennsylvania reported 561 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday as its rolling average of new cases continues to climb.

The state also reported that 319 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, about 60 more than at the beginning of the week.

Pennsylvania’s 7-day average of new cases stood at 482 as of Wednesday, after falling as low as 161 on July 4, according to tracking by Johns Hopkins.

It’s still well below the peak daily average of about 10,500 new cases in mid-December.

And the pace of deaths has yet to turn upward, with the state reporting 6 new deaths on Thursday, bringing Pennsylvania’s total to 27,819. However, since people typically die many weeks after becoming infected, death counts lag new case counts.

COVID-19 cases are surging all over the country, with new daily case counts nearly tripling during the past two weeks, the Associated Press reported this week.

Much of the rise is attributed to: rollbacks of COVID-19 restrictions and fewer people using precautions such as face masks; the fact that well over 40% of Americans have yet to receive a dose of COVID-19 vaccine; and the emergence of the delta variant, which is more contagious and spreading faster than the original strain.

For example, Louisiana reported 5,388 new cases on Wednesday, its third-highest count so far, according to the Associated Press. Hospitalizations in the state have risen to 844, an increase of more than 600 since mid-June.

Health experts say the vast majority of new cases and hospitalizations involve people who aren’t vaccinated.

As of Wednesday, 62.1% of Pennsylvanians 18 or older were fully vaccinated, the state said.

However, Pennsylvania’s pace of vaccination has dropped off sharply, with the state now averaging about 11,200 vaccinations daily. That number doesn’t include Philadelphia County, which has its own vaccination program.

On Wednesday, the state gave about 6,300 doses, with 3,259 first doses and 3,038 second doses. The figure doesn’t include Philadelphia County.

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