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Erie County's COVID-19 cases rise for fourth straight week, led by record-high total Friday

David Bruce, Erie Times-News
·2 min read

Erie County reported an increased number of new COVID-19 cases again last week, topped by a record-high 324 cases on Friday.

New cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise as the county battles an extended second surge of COVID-19.

A total of 1,386 cases were reported between Nov. 12-18 compared to 1,096 reported the previous week, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. It is the fourth straight week the county's number of new cases has increased.

Examples of particles of COVID-19, the new coronavirus, are shown in this artist's rendering.
Examples of particles of COVID-19, the new coronavirus, are shown in this artist's rendering.

Once again the rise was fueled partly by an increase in cases among children. The number of cases among those 18 and younger rose from 319 between Nov. 3-9 to 353 between Nov. 10-16, the state Health Department reported.

More: What do we really know about vaccine effectiveness?

A growing number of county residents are being hospitalized with COVID-19, as the 14-day moving average of daily cases rose to 82.2 on Friday. It's the highest number since Jan. 14.

More: Erie County reports 16 COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, 239 new cases

A total of 109 county residents were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Thursday evening, including 54 in intensive care units and 16 who needed ventilators, the state Health Department reported.

"We are still seeing a vast majority of those patients are unvaccinated," said Saint Vincent Hospital President Christopher Clark, D.O. "It was 79% last week. The figure goes up and down a little but we are seeing no dramatic change."

Saint Vincent President Christopher Clark, D.O., said his hospital's percentage of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients last week was 79% and has not fluctuated much in recent weeks.
Saint Vincent President Christopher Clark, D.O., said his hospital's percentage of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients last week was 79% and has not fluctuated much in recent weeks.

Of the 16 COVID-19 deaths reported by the county Thursday, 11 of them were unvaccinated and the five who were vaccinated were between 75 and 91 years old, according to county officials. The deaths occurred between Nov. 3-12.

More: Erie County's COVID-19 fight far different from one year ago

A total of 573 county residents have died due to COVID-19 complications.

Here is a look at the rest of the county's COVID-19 measurements between Nov. 12-18 from the state health department:

  • The incidence rate of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents increased from 406.3 to 513.9.

  • The COVID-19 test positivity percentage rose from 17.9% to 20.4%.

  • The average daily number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients increased from 73.7 to 90.7.

  • The average daily number of COVID-19 patients on ventilators rose from 9.6 to 12.3.

  • The percentage of emergency department visits due to COVID-19 symptoms declined from 3% to 2.5%.

Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNBruce.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County's COVID-19 cases rise for fourth straight week