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COVID-19 UPDATE: County adds 1 death, 34 cases over the weekend; positivity rate drops to 3.2%

Butler County added one new COVID-19 death as well as 34 new confirmed cases over the past three days, but state officials said in a news conference Monday, the trend is a statewide issue.

“We've been talking about this a long time,” said Gov. Tom Wolf in the news conference. “We've been seeing the average cases counts creeping up. This upsurge, there's evidence that it's starting.”

According to Monday's report by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, there have been 1,219 county residents who have tested positive for the virus since the beginning of the pandemic.

The county's death toll increased by one to 27 deaths with the latest death being recorded in Sunday's report.

Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said the surge is an unfortunate, but anticipated, phenomenon. She said the state is putting an emphasis on both incidence rates, which are the rate of new cases, but also percent positivity rates, which record the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that are actually positive.

Currently, the state is placing counties with a percent positivity rate of 5% or more into the “substantial” risk transmission category, which is tied to the state's recommendations on things such as schools and business operations.

According to the COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring Dashboard, Butler County plateaued last week, and it remained in the “moderate” level of risk.

Butler County added three less new cases than the week before, and its percent positive decreased from 3.9% last week to 3.2% this week.

The county's hospitalization rate, which includes any hospitalizations of patients with COVID-like-symptoms, rose to 1% this week, an increase of .1% from last week.

Butler Health System reported an increased need for intensive care at both its hospitals this week.

Butler Memorial Hospital reported four inpatients Monday, an increase of three. The hospital has three patients who tested positive for COVID-19 and one suspected of having the virus. Two inpatients are being treated in the intensive care unit.

Clarion Hospital reported three inpatients, the same as Friday's report. The hospital has three patients who tested positive for COVID-19 with two of those being treated in the ICU.

The following numbers on the coronavirus pandemic were compiled from regular news releases from the state Department of Health and the Butler Health System.COVID-19 statistics from Saturday, Sunday and Monday are:<b>Butler County</i>Confirmed cases: 1,219Probable cases: 199Negative tests: 25,514Deaths: 27<b>Butler Memorial Hospital</i>Inpatients: 4Suspected: 1Confirmed: 3ICU: 2Total tests: 21,151Outdoor tests: 7,933Positive tests: 341<b>Clarion Hospital</i>Inpatients: 3Suspected: 0Confirmed: 3ICU: 2Total tests: 6,100Outdoor tests: 4,848Positive tests: 173<b>Pennsylvania</i>New cases: 4,229Total cases: 183,315New deaths: 43Total deaths: 8,500Recovered: 80 percent<b>Surrounding Counties</i>Allegheny: 13,335 confirmed cases; 196,620 negative; and 392 deathsArmstrong: 546 confirmed; 8,135 negative; and 19 deathsBeaver: 2,080 confirmed; 23,013 negative; and 137 deathsClarion: 137 confirmed; 3,760 negative; and 3 deathsLawrence: 621 confirmed; 8,721 negative; and 25 deathsMercer: 785 confirmed; 13,354 negative; and 25 deathsVenango: 119 confirmed; 5,425 negative; and 1 deathWestmoreland: 3,211 confirmed; 48,722 negative; and 71 deaths

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