HARRISBURG, PA (AP) – A year after the discovery of the first coronavirus case in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf says there is hope and light at the end of the tunnel with the growing availability of vaccines.
Wolf, speaking at a news conference Friday in front of a Rite Aid pharmacy where people were vaccinated, announced on March 6 that Pennsylvania had confirmed its first two cases of the new coronavirus. Since then, Pennsylvania has seen several increases in cases, accounting for more than 113,000 confirmed or probable cases of the virus and attributing more than 24,200 deaths to it.
The State Department of Health says more than 868,000 people have been completely vaccinated in Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported an additional 2,757 positive cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the statewide total to 944,196. The state health department also reported 43 more deaths Friday.
1,628 people are hospitalized with COVID-19. Of that number, 350 patients are in the intensive care unit with COVID-19, according to the State Department of Health. Most hospitalized patients are 65 years of age or older and most deaths have occurred in patients 65 years of age or older.
The state health department says the 14-day-a-day mobile number trend of hospitalized patients is about 4,200 lower than the December 25, 2020 high. However, the current 14-day average is also below the was at the height of the spring peak on May 3, 2020.
The percentage of positivity throughout the state during the week of February 19 to 25 stood at 6.3%.