Jan. 6 update: Pa. reports record number of COVID-19 deaths; Centre County adds 77 cases

Pennsylvania reported a record number of COVID-19 deaths Wednesday as cases continued to tick up after a weekend lull.

The state added 368 deaths to bring the total to 16,914. The state Health Department raised Centre County’s count by one to 147.

Statewide, daily case totals fell below 5,000 during the holiday weekend but reached more than 8,800 Tuesday and rose to 9,474 on Wednesday. In all, Pennsylvania has reported 683,389 positive cases along with 3.33 million negative tests. The state estimates a 71% recovery rate.

Centre County added 77 cases to raise the total to 9,348 since March 20. Of those cases, 8,761 are confirmed and 587 are probable. There have been 52,958 negative tests.

Statewide, about 159,000 COVID vaccines have been administered, including 2,043 in Centre County.

As of Wednesday morning, Mount Nittany Medical Center is treating 53 COVID-19 patients ages 41 to 98, a spokesperson said. That’s a decrease of six patients from Tuesday’s update.

The state’s hospital dashboard, which also includes rehabilitation facilities, shows 64 COVID patients in Centre County. Five are in intensive care and four are on a ventilator.

Across Pennsylvania, 5,684 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, almost double the springtime high, and 1,148 patients are in intensive care. About 12% of ICU beds are available.

Centre County added 13 cases among long-term care residents, one case in an employee and two deaths. There have been 604 resident cases, 128 employee cases and 127 deaths in 16 personal care and nursing homes in the county.

Statewide, there have been 55,480 resident cases, 10,186 employee cases and 9,262 resident deaths at 1,488 long-term care facilities.

This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 12:11 PM.