Pennsylvania reported 401 new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, one of the highest one-day totals of the pandemic.
However, the recent holiday weekend may have contributed to the unusually high toll, with the number reflecting deaths from multiple days.
The state had reported a total of 279 deaths in the three days leading up to Wednesday.
Prior to Wednesday, the state only twice had issued a daily report showing more than 400 deaths — 554 on May 4 and 479 on April 29. But both of those came early in the pandemic, when the state and hospitals were still refining the reporting process, and daily updates sometimes included batches of deaths occurring over multiple days.
The previous 2021 high was 368 deaths reported on Jan. 6.
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The state reported 5,984 new COVID-19 infections Wednesday, about 600 more than on Tuesday, but still far less than the December peak that included days of 12,000-plus new infections.
As of early Wednesday, 4,882 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, an increase from a day earlier, but well below the recent peak, when more than 6,300 were hospitalized.
The new infections bring Pennsylvania’s total to 783,170 since the start of the pandemic and the new deaths raise the total to 19,868.