276 New PA Coronavirus Deaths; 1,618 Cases In Healthcare Workers

PENNSYLVANIA — Pennsylvania announced 276 more deaths from coronavirus on Sunday, a significant increase which officials said is due to several days' worth of accrued data from multiple sources that had to be verified.

That brings the state's total number of deaths to 1,112. They also announced 1,215 new cases. The state has 32,284 total cases of Sunday afternoon.

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"These deaths did not happen overnight," Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said, noting that the state has to reconcile numbers from multiple different data reporting systems, including county health departments and their own NEDSS reporting systems. "This increase in deaths is a culmination of that effort."

Additionally, the state announced that 1,618 healthcare workers in Pennsylvania have the virus, as of Sunday afternoon. Nurses, doctors, and various medical professionals are on the front lines of fighting the virus, and continue to expose themselves to infection daily in order to provide treatment.

Of the state's 32,284 cases, 2,600 are hospitalized, or just under 10 percent. A total of 643 of those patients require a ventilator.

As of Sunday, 45 percent of regular hospital beds, 39 percent of ICU beds, and 70 percent of ventilators remain available.

"Our trends are showing that Pennsylvania's sacrifice to stay home is working," Dr. Levine added. However, "COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise in Pennsylvania, so now is not the time to become complacent. We must continue to stay home to protect ourselves, our families, our community."

>>>Full coverage of coronavirus in Pennsylvania