Pa. coronavirus update: 15K 2-day case count includes new state record over Thanksgiving; Lehigh Valley sees - lehighvalleylive.com

The state has reported 343,614 total cases of COVID-19 and 10,234 people have died.Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com.

The state health department on Friday reported a two-day total of 15,785 new cases of COVID-19 – including a new single-day record – and 139 more deaths related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The new report puts Pennsylvania at 343,614 cases with a death toll of 10,234 since the pandemic was first detected here in March.

Locally, the Lehigh Valley saw almost 1,000 new cases of its own in the two-day period that includes the holiday.

The latest health department data from the last two days shows a single-day case count of 8,425 reported Thursday – the biggest one-day increase yet seen in the state.

Adding to Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 death toll were 118 more lives lost on Thursday and 21 on Friday.

Meanwhile, in the Lehigh Valley, the area’s two counties combined for 968 new cases over Thursday and Friday.

That includes 315 new cases in Lehigh County alone on Friday, per state data – the county’s most yet in a single day.

With two more deaths, both reported Thursday, the Lehigh Valley’s COVID-19 death toll has risen to 713 people.