The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 701 new coronavirus cases Saturday, raising the statewide total to 75,086 since early March.
Statewide, there have been 5,931 deaths tied to COVID-19, including 45 newly reported fatalities. More than two-thirds of the state’s deaths have occurred in long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes.
The figures reflect cases and deaths reported as of midnight. There are 435,122 people who have tested negative, according to the health department.
This is the first weekend all of Pennsylvania is free from coronavirus-related stay-at-home orders since March 23.
More than half of the state is in the green part of the governor’s red-yellow-green levels of virus restrictions. The rest is in yellow, and more will move to green on Friday.
The number of new cases has dropped substantially in recent weeks, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine has said. It’s been more than three weeks since the state has had more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases in a single day.
Nursing homes, however, were hit hard by the coronavirus. The number of coronavirus deaths in long-term care facilities has surpassed 4,000, according to the new health department figures.
The health department said 16,056 residents of those facilities have contracted the virus, along with 2,793 employees.
Cases have been found at 613 long-term care facilities in 45 counties.
Overall, the health department estimates about 70% of those who have been infected have recovered. The department calculates those who have recovered by examining the number of patients who have reached 30 days since they were diagnosed or developed symptoms.
