The Pennsylvania Health Department on Tuesday said there are 828 more cases of the coronavirus in Pennsylvania, and its data shows the northeast region continues to produce fewer cases than the southwest — the opposite of what was happening in the early days of the pandemic in Pennsylvania.
The 10-county northeast region that includes the Lehigh Valley has, for 49 straight days, logged fewer new cases than the 11-county region that includes Allegheny County in the southwest.
On a string of more than 30 days that started March 29, the northeast region each day produced more new cases than the southwest. On April 4, for example. the northeast region logged 655 new cases and the southwest 129.
At the end of April, the northeast had 9,786 cases and the southwest had 2,652, a difference of 7,134. As of Tuesday, the difference had narrowed to 2,189 ? based on the northeast total of 17,335 cases and the southwest total of 15,146.
The state-defined northeast region includes Carbon, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties.
The southwest includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
Tuesday data
The total number of cases statewide Tuesday stood at 120,281. The state data showed there are 35 newly reported deaths, bringing the total to 7,352.
One of the newly reported deaths was in Lehigh County. The total deaths in Lehigh stand at 338 and there have been 292 in Northampton County.
There were 30 more cases in the Lehigh Valley, including 17 in Lehigh County and 13 in Northampton County.
The counties that added the largest number of coronavirus cases to their totals on Tuesday were Philadelphia with 168; Allegheny, 76; Delaware, 73; Fayette, 61; and York, 46.
There were 26 counties that have had 10 or fewer total new cases during the past week.
The state totals include both confirmed and probable cases. Confirmed cases are those testing positive for the coronavirus. Among the scenarios that would lead to a probable case is one in which the individual has not been tested but shows symptoms and has had close contact with a confirmed case.
There were 598 people hospitalized for the coronavirus early Tuesday afternoon in Pennsylvania, a figure that changed little from Monday and remains far below levels earlier in the pandemic. There were 29 people hospitalized in Lehigh County and two in Northampton.
State data showed 1,255,313 patients have tested negative for the virus. Among those who have tested positive, nearly 38% are ages 25-49; nearly 24% are 65 or older; nearly 23% are 50-64; nearly 10% are 19-24; nearly 4% are 13-18; and the rest are 12 or younger.
Meanwhile, officials from OraSure Technologies Inc. of Bethlehem ? believing they are close to bringing to market a quick at-home test for the coronavirus ? joined state officials in Harrisburg to announce an expansion that is expected to create 177 jobs.
Morning Call Capitol correspondent Ford Turner can be reached at fturner@mcall.com
