The number of people being admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 is increasing in the county and statewide.

Butler Memorial Hospital reported 15 patients with COVID-19, an increase from seven last week, including three in intensive care earlier this week.

The report echoes information from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which reported 847 people hospitalized statewide, including 204 patients in intensive care Wednesday. On July 22, the department reported 319 people were hospitalized.

BMH, in a statement, encouraged everybody to get vaccinated because vaccination is the best defense against acquiring the disease.

The hospital said about 85% of the people admitted for COVID-19 have not been vaccinated. When a vaccinated person tests positive, in what's known as a breakthrough case, the severity of the illness is likely to be significantly lower and hospitalization is rarely required.

The health department reported to the hospital that two patient deaths on Aug. 6 were due to COVID-19.

The department said there were 22 new deaths statewide as of Tuesday, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 27,925.

Vaccine providers have administered 11,805,722 vaccine doses statewide as of Wednesday, meaning 5,783,954 people are fully vaccinated and 6,021,768 people are at least partially vaccinated among the population of 12.8 million people.

In the county, 94,885 people are fully vaccinated and 7,051 people are partially vaccinated among 187,853 residents.

In licensed nursing and personal care homes, there have been 72,599 cases among residents and 15,706 cases among employees. Of the deaths in the state, 13,431 have been residents of nursing or personal care facilities. About 29,592 of the total cases in the state have been among health care workers.

The state health department Wednesday reported 1,811 new cases.