Pa. Department of Health provides monthly update on COVID-19 trends

Bill O’Boyle, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·2 min read

Jun. 9—WILKES-BARRE — The Pennsylvania Department of Health Wednesday provided a summary of COVID-19 information for May 2022.

"COVID-19 trends can vary across communities that is why it is important to use the CDC's community level tracker website to see the risk of COVID-19 by county and find recommendations to prevent spreading the virus," said Department of Health Acting Secretary and Physician General Dr. Denise Johnson. "We have access to the right tools to fight the spread of COVID-19 like wearing a mask and getting tested. Regardless of what community level, we know getting fully vaccinated and boosted offers the best protection against this virus."

May Update

The following summary is provided to reflect the trends between May 1 to 31, 2022.

Following the CDC approval of second doses, there was a large increase in total vaccinations in May — more than doubling April's total vaccinations. A total of 402,303 COVID-19 vaccines were administered averaging 12,978 doses per day including:

—72,266 additional doses.

—208,908 second additional doses.

—10,920 pediatric doses.

—A total of 111,011 new COVID-19 cases were reported averaging 3,581 per day in May.

—The number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 on June 1 was 1,329, two times as high as it was on May 1 at 651 individuals.

—There were 591 deaths attributed to COVID-19 identified in the Pennsylvania death registry averaging about 19 deaths per day reported in May.

The Department of Health continues to provide extensive data on a weekly basis via the COVID-19 dashboard and the vaccine dashboard. All available dashboards provide an interactive experience for the user to review statewide and local-level data. The department also provides a dashboard showing COVID-19 data for skilled nursing homes including case counts, deaths and vaccination status for residents and staff. All dashboards and OpenData resources will be updated on a weekly basis on Wednesdays.

Local report as of June 8

Luzerne County

Total deaths: 1,394

Total cases: 77,951

One week increase: 709 new cases

Lackawanna County: 46,941 cases; 787 deaths

Monroe County: 39,160 cases; 534 deaths

Statewide: 2,932,186 total cases; 24,862 new cases in past week

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.