PA In New CDC Coronavirus Hot Zone, Cases Surging To Fall Levels

PENNSYLVANIA — New data shows Pennsylvania wedged inside a new COVID-19 hot zone, and it's currently among the top five states with the highest number of new coronavirus cases per capita over the past week, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The latest data released from the CDC shows only Michigan and New York reporting more new cases than Pennsylvania.

Over the past seven days, Pennsylvania had a COVID-19 infection rate of 234.5 cases per 100,000 population, the CDC data shows. Over the past seven days, the state reported 30,024 new cases.

By comparison, Michigan reported 50,983 cases and New York has reported 49,105.

Other states in the coronavirus hot zone include the bordering states of New Jersey and Delaware. In New Jersey, there have been 25,047 cases reported over the last seven days and the state has an infection rate of 282 cases per 100,000 population over the past seven days.

In nearby Delaware, the infection rate over the past seven days stands at 241 per 100,000 people.

The data in Pennsylvania continues to go in the wrong direction, with new cases reaching levels not seen since the fall and early winter surge.

Pennsylvania's statewide percent-positivity increased once again last week, going from 9.4 percent to 9.5 percent. On Tuesday alone, 6,638 new cases were reported — the highest single-day case increase since January.

Nationally, Pennsylvania now has the third-highest estimated presence of variants, following California and Texas, a study from Helix shows.

The most widespread of these more contagious variants, the B.1.1.7 UK strain, is present in Pennsylvania. There have been more than 800 reported cases in Pennsylvania thus far, according to the CDC, which tracks the variant on a state-by-state basis. But according to a recent New York Times report, as many as 50 percent of all cases in the state since Feb. 1 could be due to the UK variant.

As of Tuesday, there are 2,474 people in Pennsylvania hospitalized with COVID-19. Of that number, 534 patients are in the intensive care unit with COVID-19

In total, the state has reported more than a million COVID-19 cases and 25,472 deaths.

Officials are hoping vaccines can curb this latest surge. So far, 2.4 million people in Pennsylvania have been fully vaccinated and 4.2 million have received at least one dose.

As of Tuesday, the state has opened up vaccine registration to the general public. Learn more about getting a coronavirus vaccine here.

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