New COVID cases in single digits for four local counties

Randy Griffith, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·2 min read

Mar. 4—Half of the region's eight counties posted single-digit increases for new COVID-19 cases in Wednesday's update by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Somerset County added six cases, Bedford County added three cases, Blair County added nine cases and Indiana County added five cases, among 2,577 additional positive cases statewide.

Counties with more than 10 cases were Cambria, 26; Clearfield, 22; Center, 34; and Westmoreland, 74.

There were six new COVID-19 deaths across the region, including three in Westmoreland County and one each in Somerset, Blair and Centre counties.

Statewide, the department recorded 69 new deaths, bringing Pennsylvania's totals to 938,411 cases and 24,169 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

The rolling seven-day average of new cases dipped slightly to 2,540 cases a day Tuesday, but the average has leveled out, ranging between 2,428 and 2,659 since dropping below 2,700 average cases a day on Feb. 21.

A collaborative effort to support nursing and personal care homes will continue, Gov. Tom Wolf's administration announced Wednesday.

The Regional Congregate Care Assistance Teams provide support with testing, staffing assistance and rapid response for outbreaks at long-term care facilities. Funding for the support network was set to lapse Feb. 28, but it will now be available through May.

The program provides call centers for facilities to connect with participating hospital systems for infection control and prevention technical assistance and education, along with rapid response with onsite assessment teams assisting with infection control practices, identifying staffing needs and other assistance.

Staffing assistance will continue to be provided by contracted agencies and the Pennsylvania National Guard, although it is more limited than it was under a federal program that ended last year.

There is also testing assistance and education resources.

"Our fight against COVID-19 is not done and neither is our work to support long-term care facilities," Alison Beam, acting secretary of health, said in a press release. "We must stay the course to ensure residents and staff have the resources they need and keep our fellow Pennsylvanians safe."

Last week, the health department announced all residents and staff of nursing homes who wanted to get the vaccine have received both shots. The program to inoculate residents of personal care and assisted living homes continues, Beam said.

There have been 67,031 cases among residents of long-term care homes and 13,144 cases among employees of the homes.

There have been 12,470 deaths attributed to COVID-19 among residents of the facilities. Across the state, there have been positive COVID-19 cases at 1,566 different long-term care homes.

Almost 25,000 health care workers have been infected by the novel coronavirus, the state estimates.