COVID-19 deaths trend up again as case count continues decline

Borys Krawczeniuk, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·2 min read

May 18—The two-week COVID-19 death count ticked upward sharply over the weekend statewide and regionally.

The state death toll for the previous two weeks rose to 557 as of Monday, up from 496 on Saturday, according the latest state Department of Health figures. The region's two-week toll rose to 40 on Sunday from 34 on Saturday, but remained at 40 on Monday.

Whether that's a sign of renewed trouble or some reporting anomaly should become clearer as this week unfolds.

Even as the death count rose, the number of new cases over the last two weeks dropped again statewide and regionally in the last day to 28,629 across Pennsylvania and 2,125 in the region that includes Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties.

Overall, the state reported another 872 cases on Monday, 82 of them in the region. That raised the total to 1,187,115 statewide, including 76,499 in the region.

State deaths rose by 67 to 26,833 and remained at 1,830 in the region.

By county:

Lackawanna added 15 cases for 18,203 total, including 2,811 probable, and remained at 470 deaths.

Luzerne added 28 cases for 31,335 total, including 2,516 probable, and remained at 803 deaths.

Monroe added 21 cases for 14,532 total, including 443 probable, and remained at 310 deaths.

Pike added seven cases for 3,922 total, including 407 probable, and remained at 54 deaths.

Susquehanna added one case for 2,571 total, including 324 probable, and remained at 62 deaths.

Wayne added six cases for 4,033 total, including 416 probable, and remained at 80 deaths.

Wyoming added four cases for 1,903 total, including 332 probable, and remained at 51 deaths.

Contact the writer:

bkrawczeniuk

@timesshamrock.com

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570-348-9147;

@BorysBlogTT on Twitter.