PA COVID Cases At Highest Levels Since Spring: Latest Data

PENNSYLVANIA ? Coronavirus case rates in Pennsylvania remain high heading into the fall, as the state's seven-day incidence rate per 100,000 residents places it squarely in the middle of the pack across a country that is seeing high transmission nearly everywhere.

The high numbers remain despite the state's growing vaccination rate. Officials recently hailed a milestone when they reached 85 percent of all residents 18 and over with a first a dose.

Pennsylvania has seen 250.6 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week, the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show. That puts it 24th in the nation, and roughly in line with the high mark of this latest surge of the pandemic, fueled at least partially by the more contagious delta variant.

>>Gov. Wolf Hails COVID Vaccine Milestone In PA

That high transmission rate continues despite the relatively high vaccination rate. Pennsylvania is doing better than other states with vaccinations: they now rank 9th nationally in first doses administered, and fifth for total doses administered.

Still, officials say that the vaccine is the best protection against the virus and the way to end the pandemic. "Breakthrough" cases amongst fully vaccinated individuals still comprise just a fraction ? about 5.53 percent ? of all new cases in the state since Jan. 2021.

The state's seven day average of new cases, which sits at 4,658, has also been about the same for the past two weeks, statistics show. The rate was 4,774 on Sept. 21. The numbers are the highest the state has seen since the early days of the vaccination effort in mid-April.

Statewide, Pennsylvania's positivity rate has also remained exactly steady over the most recently tracked seven-day period, according to the Early Warning Monitoring Dashboard. That data, cover the week of Sept. 16 to Sept. 23, shows the rate at 8.9 percent.

CDC information shows that the statewide rate is between 8 and 9.9 percent over the past seven days, as of Wednesday.

Healthcare metrics are also ticking up. The average daily number of hospitalizations over the past week is at 2,458, up from 2,267 the week before. The average daily number of ventilators in use, similarly, is up to 306 from 278.

The percentage of hospital visits due to COVID-19 symptoms remains steady at 1.6 percent, the same mark as the week before.