The number of reported COVID cases and hospitalizations in Lancaster County dropped slightly in June, continuing a trend of relatively low infections and serious cases over the past four months.
Sixteen county residents died from COVID in June, according to the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office. That is two more than a month ago but only a tenth of the 160 deaths here during the pandemic peak in January.
For the first time this year, there were no COVID deaths at county nursing homes during the month, according to federal health reports.
Personal care homes continued their remarkable record of no COVID deaths throughout the year. There were substantial drops in new cases among residents and staff at all these facilities.
According to the Pennsylvania Health Department, 69% of cases statewide reported since Jan. 1 involved unvaccinated or partially vaccinated persons. Similarly, 81% of COVID hospitalizations and 77% of COVID deaths so far this year occurred among individuals who were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
In Lancaster County, 318,242 (62%) of 545,724 residents are fully vaccinated. About 70% have at least one vaccine.
This information was compiled by Erica Runkles, Dr. Mary Glazier and Penn Glazier, and me from the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office, the state Health Department, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
