For the week following Christmas, the Dallas ZIP code of 18612 remained the local COVID-19 hot spot, according to state data.
Of the 41 codes all or partially in the Luzerne County tracked by the Times Leader, Dallas had 190 new cases from Dec. 25 through Thursday. The state announced it will not update case data Friday, resuming the online postings on Saturday.
The Dallas code became the hot spot at the start of December and has remained at the top. The state has noted an outbreak at SCI Dallas, which likely accounts for most of the new cases.
The Wilkes-Barre Code of 18702, long near or at the top of the list, had 109 new cases while the Kingston code of 18704 had 100 cases. The Hazleton code of 18201, the major hot spot at the start of the outbreak in the spring, had 94 new cases this week.
The Bloomsburg code of 17815 had the second highest increase among those tracked, with 119 new cases, but only a small part of that expansive code pokes into southern Luzerne County, meaning odds are high those cases are overwhelmingly in Columbia County.
Of the other codes, 15 ranged from 23 to 87 new cases this week. Another eight ranged between 10 and 17. Two showed no new cases.
Daily update
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Thursday reported 319 new cases of COVID-19 in Luzerne County and the death count is at 463.
That brings the total number of confirmed cases in Luzerne County to 17,317.
Neighboring Lackawanna County has 8,812 cases and 268 deaths; Monroe County has 6,1033 cases and 200 deaths.
The Department of Health confirmed that there were 8,992 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 640,325.
There are 5,962 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19, near double the peak in the spring. Of that number, 1,178 patients are in the intensive care unit with COVID-19. Most of the patients hospitalized are ages 65 or older, and most of the deaths have occurred in patients 65 or older.
***
Staff writer Bill O’Boyle contributed to this report.