Coronavirus Hospitalizations, Cases Increasing In Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA — More people are testing positive for the coronavirus, and more are being hospitalized by it, in Philadelphia, according to health officials.

In the last two weeks, three percent of coronavirus tests in Philadelphia have come back positive, according to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. Philadelphia is averaging 90 new cases of COVID-19 per day over the last two weeks.

Additionally, 75 patients with coronavirus are currently being treated in Philadelphia hospitals, nine of whom are on ventilators. That figure is up from 55 last week.

To date, 146,815 Philadelphians have been diagnosed with the virus, and 3,766 have succumbed to the virus.

The health department Friday reported an additional 32,789 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Philadelphia since July 22. This brings the total number of fully vaccinated Philadelphians to at least 769,850, and the number of Philadelphians with at least one dose of the vaccine to at least 934,571.

Sixty-two percent of Philadelphia adults are fully vaccinated, and 75.3 percent of Philadelphia adults have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. This percentage is higher than the United States as a whole, and higher than the majority of states.

There are early indications that the average number of vaccine doses administered per week is rising, possibly due to the increased spread of the Delta variant.

"We are absolutely thrilled to see that three-quarters of adults now have some protection against COVID-19," said Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole. "Vaccinating these hundreds of thousands of our neighbors and loved ones is a testament to the tireless work of Health Department staff and the public health and healthcare workforces throughout the city. But we’re not done yet. To be safely protected against the Delta Variant, we need everyone to be fully vaccinated. If you haven’t gotten your second dose yet, now is the time. Protect yourself and your loved ones and get vaccinated today."

Last week, the Health Department issued updated recommendations to protect Philadelphians in light of rising COVID-19 case counts and a slight increase in hospitalizations due to COVID-19. The Health Department strongly recommends that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask when indoors in public.

In addition to that recommendation, the Health Department also recommends that Philadelphians:

• Choose outdoor rather than indoor spaces
• Avoid crowded indoor spaces
• Mask while indoors around people you don’t know are vaccinated
• For unvaccinated people, consider double masking while in indoor public space