Pennsylvania Coronavirus Update: 2-Day 15K Case Count Includes New State Record During Thanksgiving; Lehigh Valley sees hundreds more cases | Map of Pa County. COVID-19 (11/27/20)

The coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania did not slow down over the Thanksgiving holiday.

On Friday, the state’s health department reported a total of 15,785 new two-day COVID-19 cases – including a new one-day high – and 139 additional deaths from the coronavirus pandemic.

The new report puts Pennsylvania at 343,614 cases, with a death toll of 10,234 since the pandemic was first detected here in March.

Locally, the Lehigh Valley has seen almost 1,000 new cases on its own during the two-day period that includes the holidays. (It can take up to two weeks for symptoms to appear, so cases reported on Thanksgiving probably don’t include any cases of Thanksgiving meetings.)

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The drop in cases, hospitalizations and deaths continues as the state updated its virus-related restrictions this month, including new orders earlier this week. Last week, Governor Tom Wolf and Health Secretary Dr Rachel Levine told residents to wear face masks indoors when with people outside their homes, and asked travelers to take a negative COVID-19 test before entering the state or quarantining them for two weeks.

This week, the state capped attendance at rallies and events and asked schools to file for certification if they intend to continue teaching in-person. A stay-at-home order has not been issued, but authorities are encouraging residents to leave as little as possible – even sending a text alert the day before Thanksgiving.

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Pennsylvania has reported thousands of new cases a day for weeks now. The latest health department data from the past two days shows a one-day case count of 8,425 reported Thursday – the largest single-day increase in the state. There were 7,360 new cases reported on Friday. More than a quarter of people tested each day over the past week were positive.

4,114 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Friday, nearly double the state’s spring peak, according to current and past data. The health department estimates that 61% of COVID-19 patients in Pennsylvania have recovered so far.

In addition to the COVID-19 death toll in Pennsylvania, 118 more lives were lost Thursday and 21 Friday. There are generally fewer reports of fatalities during holidays and weekends.

Meanwhile, in the Lehigh Valley, the region’s two counties combined for 968 new cases on Thursday and Friday.

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That includes 315 new cases in Lehigh County alone on Friday, according to state data – the highest number of cases to date in a single day. Northampton County set its own record Thursday with 201 new cases.

The region is probably days away from reaching 20,000 total cases. The valley’s case count now stands at 19,648.

With two more deaths, both reported on Thursday, the death toll from COVID-19 in the Lehigh Valley has risen to 713 people.

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MORE: Lehigh Valley zip codes among those in Pa. With largest increase in COVID-19 cases this week

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Steve Novak can be reached at [email protected].