126071348_web1_Coronavirus--1-

221 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Luzerne County on Sunday

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The number of Luzerne County residents hospitalized for coronavirus rose again and surpassed the 100-mark last week, the latest state update shows.
				On average, 106.7 county residents were hospitalized for COVID-19 from Nov. 20 to 26, compared to 92.9 the previous week.
				Looking back, the county&rsquo;s daily average hospitalizations were 6.6 the first week of October and 16.3 the second week.
				More hospitalized county residents also required ventilators last week &mdash; an average daily 12.4 versus 8.3 residents two weeks ago, according to the early warning dashboard posted at <a href="https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Monitoring-Dashboard.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.health.pa.gov</a>.
				New confirmed coronavirus cases also increased in the county over the two-week period.
				The county added 1,194 new confirmed COVID-19 cases last week &mdash; an increase of 76 from the previous week&rsquo;s 1,118 new cases, the update says.
				As a result, the county&rsquo;s incidence rate, or number of cases per 100,000 residents, rose from 352 two weeks ago to a current 375.9, it said.
				Also rising was the county&rsquo;s positivity rate, or percentage of diagnostic tests yielding positive results, which jumped from 13.3% to 13.7%.
				Based on the latest numbers, county school districts will remain in the highest classification of &ldquo;substantial&rdquo; community transmission in which remote-only learning is recommended by the state.
				The substantial level is reached when the incidence rate is 100 or above or the positivity rate is 10% or higher &mdash; benchmarks both currently exceeded in the county.
				Most counties &mdash; 63 0f 67 &mdash; were in the substantial level last week, which meant the state health and education departments were in continued communication to discuss implications, a state release said.
				Only two counties &mdash; Pike and Wayne &mdash; were in the &ldquo;moderate&rdquo; virus spread ranking discouraging full in-person instruction.
				The two remaining counties &mdash; Cameron and Sullivan &mdash; were in the &ldquo;low&rdquo; spread ranking because they had both fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period and a positivity rate below 5%, the state said. Districts in counties ranked as &ldquo;low&rdquo; transmission should consider full in-person instruction or a blended system, with some students in school while others learn remotely at home, the state said.
				The state&rsquo;s early warning update also includes a fifth benchmark &mdash; the percentage of hospital visits due to coronavirus-like illnesses &mdash; which decreased slightly from 1% to 0.9% in the county over the two weeks.
				A recent spike in county coronavirus deaths prompted county Manager C. David Pedri to issue another plea last week for residents to heed prevention precautions.
				The county had tracked 64 coronavirus deaths for November, as of the day before Thanksgiving, he said. There were 23 deaths in October, one in September and four in August. Pedri said he is in regular communication with county hospitals, state health officials and other impacted entities to keep tabs on any unaddressed needs.
				Statewide numbers
				Pennsylvania experienced an increase in all five virus-tracking benchmarks, the latest update said.
				There were 41,424 additional cases statewide last week, or 4,044 more than the prior week&rsquo;s 37,380.
				With that increase, the statewide cases per 100,000 rose from 291.9 to 323.4. The state&rsquo;s positivity rate increased from 11.2% to 11.7% in the latest week.
				Other statewide benchmark updates:
				&#8226; Average daily hospitalizations rose from 2,849.1 to 3,745.7.
				&#8226; The daily average number of patients on ventilators jumped from 291.6 to 410.9.
				&#8226; The percentage of hospital visits due to coronavirus-like illnesses increased from 1.4% to 1.6%.
				State Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said early last week the increases in hospitalizations, ventilators, cases and positivity rates are &ldquo;worrisome&rdquo; and that latest models show the state could soon run out of ICU beds.

More Luzerne County coronavirus-infected residents hospitalized and on ventilators, latest state update shows