There was a spike in the number of reported deaths in Pennsylvania Wednesday—as state health officials announced 479 deaths attributed to COVID-19.
State Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said those numbers were a part of a data reconciliation.
“It’s important to remember that with this reconciliation and data analysis, this number is in regards to reporting of cases of deaths that have taken days, or a week or more, to occur. So it’s not one day’s reporting,” Levine said.
But included in those numbers, are alarming figures about the impact of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities. Of those 479 deaths, 339 happened in personal care homes.
The data also revealed that 65 percent of COVID-19 deaths reported so far in Pennsylvania are from nursing homes or long term care facilities. In total, there has been about 7,700 personal care patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 and nearly 1,000 employees have tested positive.
Here in Butler County, two of the six deaths have happened in personal care homes.
