Pennsylvania Weekly COVID Update: Delta surges at its highest point as schools reopen.Hospitalization increased by 265% from August 1st

Students in Pennsylvania will return to the classroom as soon as the state makes more than 3,000 new reports. coronavirus One day infection last week.However Republicans refused NS Governor calls for a mask man date at school To protect children.

This week, the state’s COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and mortality rates continue to move in the wrong direction as more infectious delta mutants spread.

NS Lee Valley The average number of new cases per day last week was close to 200, the last level seen in the spring before the vaccine became widely available.

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As of Friday, Pennsylvania recorded an average of over 3,743 new daily cases last week, up 115% from two weeks ago, according to health sector data. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, daily case rates have been biased upwards after the state released unprocessed 5,227 test results, primarily from Philadelphia. Without data dumps, the state has an average of 2,987 new cases per day this week, an increase of 72% over 14 days ago.

Nationally, the United States averages 156,296 cases per day, an increase of 24% over the past 14 days, killing 1,233 people per day and a 100% surge. Tracked by The New York Times. As of Thursday, there are 96,586 COVID-19 patients hospitalized. A total of 38.5 million Americans were infected with the coronavirus, killing 634,734.

Delta continues to hit the south. According to the CDC, Mississippi leads the nation with a case rate of 719 per 100,000 last week, while Pennsylvania has 153 per 100,000.

For the first time last month Lehigh County Per capita rate is topping Northampton Last week there were 184 population-adjusted cases in Lehi and 182 infections in an adjacent county. According to the state’s early warning dashboard.

Hospitalizations reached 1,722 people receiving COVID-19 treatment throughout the state on Friday, with 476 intensive care patients. This is a 265% increase in hospitalizations from August 1st and a 358% increase in critically ill patients. This is the highest number of ICU patients since May 4th. The state averages 17 deaths a day, more than double what it was two weeks ago.

The Lehi Valley hospital reported 124 COVID-19 patients on Friday, 32 in the intensive care unit and 14 on mechanical ventilation. According to the state, hospitalizations in Lehigh County have increased by 30%, COVID-19 patients on ventilators have increased by nearly 4%, and Northampton hospitalizations have increased by 6% compared to last week.

This week, throughout the campus Lee High Valley Health Network Spokesman Brian Downs reported on Friday that more than 90% of nearly 100 hospitalized coronavirus patients were unvaccinated.

“These numbers have increased in the last few weeks, but given the early numbers during the pandemic, they are much lower and are now more manageable,” he said.

To date, Pennsylvania has reported more than 1.28 million cases and 28,180 deaths.

In Lehigh Valley, Lehigh County and Northern Stampton County have reported a total of 80,729 cases and 1,1611 deaths. Over 2,500 of these cases and 14 of the deaths have occurred in the last two weeks.

Lehigh Valley is still considered a highly infected area, but infection rates are no longer above the state, closing the top ten. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rates all 67 counties in Pennsylvania as substantial or highly infected — recommended indoors in these areas, regardless of mask vaccination status.

Lehigh Valley nonprofits are struggling to process rental assistance applications more quickly after the Supreme Court overturned a temporary eviction ban on areas with high CDC infections on Thursday. If you need help with a rent or utility, enough money is available and authorities are urging people to apply promptly to avoid losing their home. Find help here..

As of Friday, 81.8% of adults in Pennsylvania have been vaccinated at least once, as well as about 69% of the total population. About 65.5% of adults (54.7% of the total population) are fully vaccinated.

Booster shots will be available For those who received both the Pfizer vaccine or the Moderna vaccine eight months after being completely vaccinated. Boosters are already licensed for people with a weakened immune system.

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Many Lehi Valley school districts return to the classroom on Mondays for the first time since March 2020 for five-day weekly instruction. Due to the worsening COVID-19 situation, many have revisited their masking policies.

both Bethlehem Easton area school district planning Mandatory mask When the school year begins based on a high case level with a step-by-step approach. The Sokon Valley School District took a similar approach when it reopened this week. Nazareth will return with optional masking, Unless there is an outbreak at school..

Whether students and staff should mask after a Republican top denial on Thursday remains a local decision Democratic Governor Tom Wolf Requests State-Wide Mission..

According to recent federal data, the majority of districts do not require masks when students return to class, and only 36% of Pennsylvania residents between the ages of 12 and 17 are fully vaccinated. Children under the age of 12 are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Republican leaders acknowledged that cases of coronavirus have again surged across the state, but said local leaders were in the best position to respond to the pandemic.

The CDC on Friday published a study in which an unvaccinated California teacher who taught classes for two days while infected with the Delta variant found that 12 out of 24 students were infected. .. Despite school masking requirements, teachers were sometimes unmasked in class, as when reading aloud to students.

At the beginning of this summer, the number of COVID-19 cases in children decreased, but now it is increasing exponentially, from about 38,000 cases in the week until July 22 to 180,000 cases last week. It has increased more than four times. Reportedly From the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

Severe illness in children is still rare overall, Spike Pediatric COVID-19 Hospitalization Headlines were made throughout the South. This is not happening locally.

“We did not see an increase in the number of children hospitalized for acute COVID-19, but we continue to be concerned and wary of MIS-C cases that will occur in the coming weeks as the number of pediatric infections in the community increases. We continue, “says Downs. A severe inflammatory syndrome that can follow an infection in a child. “Vaccination not only prevents children from becoming infected with COIVID-19 and spreading it to more vulnerable people, but also prevents the development of MIS-C.

Children over the age of 12 are currently eligible for vaccination.

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Sarah K. Saturlo may reach at [email protected]..