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Luzerne County had increases in all coronavirus benchmark categories in the state health department’s latest weekly early warning dashboard released Friday.

One particular statistic — the “positivity rate,” or percentage of diagnostic tests yielding positive results — has now prompted Gov. Tom Wolf to include Luzerne in its list of counties with “concerning” positivity rates, a release said.

The county’s positivity rate was 5.4% from July 31 to Thursday, compared to 4.4% the previous week, the dashboard said.

Statewide, the positivity rate decreased from 4.6% to 4.1% statewide, placing Luzerne County’s rate above the state average.

Neighboring Lackawanna’s positivity rate is 1.6%.

In addition to Luzerne, Wolf’s release singles out the following counties and rates as ones that “bear watching” as part of continued state monitoring: Union (11.8%), Indiana (7.9%), Fayette (7.7%), Fulton (7.4%), Huntingdon (6.7%), Erie (6.2%), Mercer (6.2%), Lawrence (6.0%), Northumberland (6.0%), York (5.8%), Clearfield (5.7%), Juniata (5.3%), Lancaster (5.3%), Beaver (5.2%), Delaware (5.2%) and Mifflin (5%).

Positivity rates are among several statistics the state is providing in the dashboard to help residents track trends by county and statewide.

Luzerne County had 144 new confirmed cases from July 31 to Thursday, compared to 140 new cases the previous week, the dashboard said.

For context, the county had 36 new confirmed cases the week of June 15 to 21.

The county’s incidence rate, or number of cases per 100,000 residents, was 45.3 the last seven days, up from the prior week’s 44.1.

State health officials have largely attributed the increase on community spread, with minimal cases originating from nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

The remaining three county statistics:

• The average daily number of coronavirus hospitalizations increased from 5.6 to 9.6.

• On average, 1 coronavirus patient was on a ventilator each day, compared to 0.4 before.

• The county’s hospital visits due to coronavirus-like illnesses increased from 0.8% to 0.9%.

The opposite trend was experienced statewide, with decreases in all benchmarks except the number of patients on ventilators, the dashboard shows:

• The number of new coronavirus cases decreased from 6,268 to 5,016 statewide, a reduction of 1,252.

• The state had 39.2 cases per 100,000 residents in the most recent week, compared to 48.9 the week before.

• Average daily hospitalizations decreased from 694.4 to 619.3.

• The daily average number of patients on ventilators rose from 96.7 to 97.3.

• The percentage of hospital visits due to coronavirus-like illnesses statewide declined from 0.8 to 0.7.

Posted at www.health.pa.gov, the dashboard is updated every Friday.

Wolf said the decreased case counts statewide and in many counties this week “indicate that the tough decisions we have had to make are protecting Pennsylvanians.”

“Our percent positivity decreased for the second week in a row, which continues to reflect the willingness of Pennsylvanians to take steps to protect themselves and their neighbors,” Wolf said, reminding residents to continue wearing masks, practicing social distancing and avoiding large gatherings.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.