Beaver County's COVID cases up 14.4%; Pennsylvania cases up 7.5%
New coronavirus cases increased 7.5% in Pennsylvania in the week ending Sunday as the state added 18,183 cases. The previous week had 16,909 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Pennsylvania ranked 18th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 7.7% from the week before, with 436,694 cases reported. With 3.85% of the country's population, Pennsylvania had 4.16% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 24 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Johns Hopkins University has been getting data on an erratic schedule from Pennsylvania, skewing week-to-week comparisons.
Beaver County reported 302 cases and two deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 264 cases and three deaths. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 45,683 cases and 778 deaths.
Allegheny County reported 2,034 cases and 16 deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 1,771 cases and eight deaths. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 315,361 cases and 3,525 deaths.
Within Pennsylvania, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Warren County with 319 cases per 100,000 per week; Greene County with 276; and Crawford County with 273. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Adding the most new cases overall were Allegheny County, with 2,034 cases; York County, with 798 cases; and Berks County, with 778. Weekly case counts rose in 57 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Allegheny, Berks and Luzerne counties.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
Across Pennsylvania, cases fell in 10 counties, with the best declines in Philadelphia County, with 677 cases from 1,459 a week earlier; in Franklin County, with 293 cases from 364; and in Centre County, with 336 cases from 394. ​
In Pennsylvania, 139 ​ people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 115 people were reported dead.
A total of 3,220,994 people in Pennsylvania have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 46,970 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States, 95,658,236 people have tested positive and 1,053,419 people have died.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
Pennsylvania's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Sept. 18. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
Last week: 4,096
The week before that: 3,879
Four weeks ago: 4,008
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
Last week: 57,618
The week before that: 58,248
Four weeks ago: 66,210
Hospitals in 15 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 14 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 22 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Beaver County reported 302 additional COVID-19 cases this week
