Lebanon County is now tracking at 380 cases of the novel coronavirus according to current Pennsylvania Department of Health data.
This count includes probable COVID-19 cases, although according to the DOH these are a fraction of the overall number. Here are some ways that the DOH says a probable case might be registered:
- Appropriate symptoms of COVID-19 and exposed to a high-risk scenario
- A positive antibody test and either symptoms or a high-risk exposure
- A fatal case with no known test result, but COVID-19 names as either the primary or a contributing cause of death
Read More: DOH begins to report probable COVID-19 cases, “fraction” of overall count
The updated case count was released around noon Thursday as the Pennsylvania Department of Health has been doing daily since last month.
As of today, the Department of Health is reporting two deaths from COVID-19. Lebanon County Coroner Dr. Jeffrey Yocum is tracking three deaths though, and LebTown is continuing to look into this discrepancy, which has occurred elsewhere in the state.
Using data from the coroner’s office, Lebanon County has created a dashboard that plots the municipalities where coronavirus victims had resided. To date, Bethel Township, Swatara Township, and the City of Lebanon have each seen one death.
The state has also released data which shows that four of the cases within Lebanon County are residents at a single nursing home or personal care facility. There is also one employee associated with the facility who is said to have COVID-19. The name of the facility was not disclosed by the state.
The current statewide positive count is 27,735, with 707 deaths. The state has recorded 113,735 negative tests.
As far as neighboring counties:
- Berks County – 1,419 cases, 31 deaths
- Dauphin County – 287 cases, seven deaths
- Lancaster County – 970 cases, 33 deaths
- Schuylkill County – 236 cases, four deaths
Here’s how Lebanon County stacks up to neighboring counties on a per capita basis, using the Census Bureau’s 2019 population estimates.
- Berks County – 0.34% (421,164 population)
- Dauphin County – 0.10% (278,299 population)
- Lancaster County – 0.18% (545,724 population)
- Lebanon County – 0.27% (141,793 population)
- Schuylkill County – 0.17% (141,359 population)
For context, Philadelphia is currently at 0.49% with 7,684 cases and a population of 1,584,064 and Lehigh County is at 0.54% with 1,999 cases and a population of 369,318.
Here’s how Lebanon County’s confirmed case count has grown over the past few weeks.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health does not release municipality-level or other demographic attributes of confirmed cases to either the public or to Lebanon County administration.
Here is a chart maintained by the Pennsylvania Capital-Star which shows how total tests across the state compare to positive tests.
The state does not track, at least publicly, the total number of tests at the county level.
Read all of LebTown’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Access LebTown’s comprehensive COVID-19 resource guide here.
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This post was updated with additional information on how probable cases are defined.
