The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 813 new coronavirus cases Saturday, along with 16 deaths.
The average number of daily cases has been lower this week, around 750, than the previous week, when the average was closer to 900. The health department hasn’t reported 1,000 new cases in a single day since July 28.
Philadelphia is reporting an increase of 146 cases.
Since the pandemic began, 118,092 Pennsylvanians have contracted the coronavirus, according to the health department.
Statewide, 8,620 health care workers have been infected with the coronavirus.
Across the state, 7,313 deaths have been tied to COVID-19. More than two-thirds of the state’s coronavirus deaths have occurred in long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes.
However, fewer people with the virus are dying or requiring hospital care, compared with the peak in the spring.
Since the pandemic’s first cases in Pennsylvania were reported, 1.2 million people have tested negative, the health department said.
The governor has said the state is continuing to boost its testing capacity. The state has been averaging about 22,000 tests per day, far above the peak in April, when about 8,000 tests were done each day.
The governor also said the state needs to do a better job of turning test results around, as some are waiting for up to two weeks to get their results.
The health department said 77% of Pennsylvanians who have been infected have recovered. The department considers patients to have recovered when they are 30 days beyond the date of infection or the onset of symptoms.
Central Pennsylvania schools are set to open this month, most offering parents a choice of sending their children into classrooms or having remote learning at home. Some, including Harrisburg, will open online only for at least a couple of weeks.
The high school fall sports season has been delayed by two weeks by the PIAA after Wolf said this week that the state recommends no contact sports until 2021.
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