PA Cracks 1,300 COVID Hospitalizations For 1st Time Since May

PENNSYLVANIA — Pennsylvania's 14-day average of coronavirus hospitalizations surpassed 1,300 hospitalizations for the first time since May, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Hospitalizations from the virus have also more than tripled since the beginning of the month.

While the 14-day average stands at 1,319, there were a total of 1,645 individuals hospitalized as of Thursday. Both numbers represent sharp spikes from just weeks ago: Pennsylvania's 14 day average was only 387 hospitalizations as recently as Aug. 1.

A total of 196 of those COVID-19 patients are on ventilators.

The surge of people in the hospital comes as some states face shortages of hospital beds because of an increase in COVID patients. Arkansas and Alabama officials reported last week that their states ran out of ICU beds, while Florida has filled about 94 percent and Idaho, Nevada and Illinois have stated they're nearing capacity limits.

Still, so far, Pennsylvania has not neared its peaks for hospitalizations during the coronavirus crisis. The state reported as many as 6,200 during last winter's surge. But patients — COVID and non-COVID — are occupying about 82 percent of the state's adult ICU beds, according to the Department of Health.

Pennsylvania has reported among the highest vaccination rates in the nation, 65.2 percent of adults over 18 fully inoculated against the virus, according to the Mayo Clinic. The state ranks 5th overall for the total number of shots given.

State officials say most of the recent hospitalizations come from unvaccinated patients. The vaccine does provide protection against the more contagious delta variant, but even vaccinated patients can spread the virus without showing any symptoms.

With reporting from Patch correspondent Josh Bakan