72 tri-county virus cases reported

From staff reports

The state Department of Health on Friday announced Clarion County reported 38 new cases of COVID-19 (10 confirmed and 28 probable), Venango County reported 28 new cases (13 confirmed and 15 probable), and Forest County reported six new cases (two confirmed and four probable).

Clarion County, the state said, now has a cumulative total of 899 cases (598 confirmed and 301 probable).

Venango County, the state said, now has a cumulative total of 891 cases (697 confirmed and 194 probable).

Forest County, the state said, now has a cumulative total of 67 cases (53 confirmed and 14 probable).

Elsewhere in the region

Mercer County, the state said, reported two new virus-related deaths on Friday, raising the county’s total deaths to 49.

The county also reported 63 new cases (56 confirmed and seven probable), giving the county a cumulative total of 2,680 cases (2,277 confirmed and 403 probable).

Crawford County, the state said, reported one new virus-related death on Friday, raising the county’s total deaths to 17.

The county also reported 41 new cases (29 confirmed and 12 probable), giving the county a cumulative total of 1,750 cases (1,379 confirmed and 371 probable).

Statewide statistics

– The state on Friday reported 7,360 new statewide positive cases, 1,065 fewer than the number reported Thursday, raising the cumulative total of cases to 343,614 (319,239 confirmed and 24,457 probable). There are 14,336 cases among health care workers.

Statewide, there are 4,087 individuals with COVID-19 who are hospitalized, and 877 of those patients are in intensive care units, according to the state. Most of the patients hospitalized are age 65 or older.

More than 7,000 new positive cases have been reported statewide in three of the past nine days, more than 6,000 new positive cases have been reported in nine of the past ten days, and more than 5,000 new positive cases have been reported on 14 of the past 16 days.

The number of new positive cases reported Friday marks 53 consecutive days in which more than 1,000 new cases were reported and 26 consecutive days in which more than 2,000 new cases were reported.

Additionally, there have been more than 3,000 new cases reported for 19 consecutive days and more than 4,000 new cases reported for 18 consecutive days.

Fewer than 1,000 new cases have been reported in 137 of the past 208 days.

– Statewide, there were 21 new deaths reported Friday, raising the total to 10,234, the state said. Most of the cumulative deaths have occurred in patients age 65 or older.

Care facilities

– A nursing and personal care facilities list, a cumulative table compiled by the state that is updated daily, shows Clarion County has added two new employee cases and subtracted one resident case. The county now has 18 employee cases, 24 resident cases and one death among five unnamed facilities.

That same chart now shows Venango County added five resident cases, giving the county 75 resident cases, six employee cases and six deaths reported among four unnamed facilities.

The chart also shows Forest County added two new resident cases, giving the county three resident cases and two employee cases at one unnamed facility.

– Statewide data on nursing and personal care facilities show there are now 33,947 resident cases and 6,553 cases among employees for a total of 40,500 cases at 1,249 distinct facilities in 63 counties.

– The state said there are a total of 6,459 deaths that have been reported from nursing and personal care facilities.

Recovery rate and testing

– The state is reporting a statewide recovery rate of 61%, down 1% from what had been reported.

– The number of statewide tests administered between Nov. 20 and Thursday is 464,069, including 38,851 positive results, according to the state.

– The number of people in the tri-county area who have tested negative for the virus, the state said, is 13,932. Statewide, there have been 2,786075 people who have tested negative.

Area health systems

Butler Health System on Friday reported Clarion Hospital had collected 8,878 specimens for COVID-19 testing through Thursday, including 7,445 tests at the hospital’s outdoor collection site. A total of 783 tests were positive for the virus.

As of Friday, the hospital has 19 COVID-19 in-patients, two suspected and 17 confirmed. Four of those patients are in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

Butler Health System has changed its outdoor testing location to the former K-mart Garden Center at the Clarion Mall. Hours will remain 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A physician order is required for testing.

– Statistics from the state, area health systems or officials could vary.

To view additional data and information, including Pennsylvania maps that break down the number of COVID-19 cases by county and ZIP code, go to www.health.pa.gov and click on “Coronavirus (COVID-19).”