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WILKES-BARRE — The latest Department of Health report on Thursday showed Luzerne County with 72 new cases of COVID-19 and no new deaths. The county’s death count is at 838.
The county’s total cases are now at 33,214 since the pandemic began last year.
Neighboring Lackawanna County has 19,081 cases and 487 deaths; Monroe County has 15,622 cases and 323 deaths.
The Department of Health Thursday confirmed there were 3,451 additional positive cases of COVID-19 reported, bringing the statewide total to 1,259,775.
Statewide percent positivity for the week of Aug. 6–Aug. 12, stood at 6%.
Maggi Barton, Deputy Press Secretary at the Department of Health, said, “Unfortunately, we can confirm this large increase does not stem from a data backlog — this is a true increase across the board.”
Barton added, “Fortunately, we know how to deal with this. We have safe and effective vaccines that work against COVID-19 and the variants. That is why it is more important than ever that people get vaccinated.”
Vaccination distribution
According to the CDC, as of Wednesday, Aug. 18:
• Pennsylvania ranks 5th among all 50 states for total doses administered.
• 64.5% of Pennsylvanians age 18 and older are fully vaccinated.
• Vaccine providers have administered 11,953,835 total vaccine doses as of Thursday, Aug. 19.
• 5,851,819 people are fully vaccinated; with 23,409 vaccinations administered yesterday and a seven-day moving average of more than 15,300 people per day receiving vaccinations.
To see a map of locations where you can get a vaccination, go to the Pennsylvania Department of Health website.
A commonwealth COVID-19 vaccination guide explains current process for getting one. Pennsylvanians with questions about the vaccination process can call the Department of Health hotline at 1-877-724-3258.
Statewide data
There are 1,307 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19. Of that number, 338 patients are in the intensive care unit with COVID-19.
The trend in the 14-day moving average number of hospitalized patients continues to increase again.
As of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 18, there were 22 new deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry, reported for a total of 28,040 deaths attributed to COVID-19.
The department continues to urge Pennsylvanians to follow CDC guidance for wearing a mask where required by law, rule and regulations, including healthcare, local business and workplace guidance.
There are 172,741 individuals who have a positive viral antigen test and are considered probable cases and 637 individuals who have a positive serology test and either COVID-19 symptoms or a high-risk exposure.
There are 5,043,174 individuals who have tested negative to date.
Approximately 29,835 of total cases have been among health care workers.
Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
