COVID-19 as of Friday had killed 398 residents of nursing and personal care homes — 56% of total deaths in Pennsylvania, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said.

In addition to the deaths, another 3,716 people living in the facilities and 420 employees had tested positive for the new coronavirus, Levine said Friday. Levine said 321 facilities had cases.

She said preventing further spread of the infections is a top priority for her department.

Levine noted facilities have been closed to visitors since early in the crisis. She said that means the infections are being carried inside by employees, highlighting dangers that occur when the disease is spreading in a community.

The health department, she said, is working the facilities, with one of the main tactics involving isolating residents who are infected in a separate wing of the facility, and designating staff to care for them exclusively.

She said another key tactic is making sure staff caring for them has adequate protective equipment.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s overall infection rate is leveling off, even with daily spikes state officials attribute to a drop in tests and reporting of test results related to the recent holidays.

Gov. Tom Wolf said that, rather than focusing on daily cases, state officials focus on a “rolling average.”

He said “It’s too early to declare victory … But our sense is the rate of increase is going down.”

Below is an updated look at Pennsylvania’s most pertinent coronavirus numbers:

April 17

1,706 new cases

29,441 total cases

6% increase in total cases from the previous day

1.4 growth factor (for new cases)

49 new deaths

756 total deaths

2,524 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of early Friday — equaling about 9%of people who tested positive

2.6 percent death rate from COVID-19

654 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, or 26 percent, on breathing ventilators

1,472 health care workers had tested positive

April 16

1,245 new cases

27,735 total cases

5% increase in total cases from previous day

1.1 growth factor (for new cases)

60 new deaths

707 total deaths

April 15

1,145 new cases

26,490 total cases

5% increase

0.99 growth factor

63 new deaths

647 total deaths

April 14

1,146 new cases

25,345 total cases

5% increase

0.8 growth factor

60 new deaths

584 total deaths

April 13

1,366 cases

24,199 total cases

6% increase

1.2 growth factor

17 new deaths

524 total deaths

April 12

1,178 new cases

22,833 total cases

5% increase

0.7 growth factor

13 new deaths

507 total deaths

April 11

1,676 new cases

21,655 total cases

8% increase

0.96 growth factor

78 new deaths

494 total deaths

April 10

1,751 new cases

19,979 total cases

10% increase

0.88 growth factor

78 new deaths

416 total deaths

April 9

1,989 new cases

18,228 total cases

12% increase

1.2 growth factor

29 new deaths

338 total deaths

April 8

1,680 new cases

16,239 total cases

12% increase

1.1 growth factor

70 new deaths

310 total deaths

April 7

1,579 new cases

14,559 total cases

12% increase

1.07 growth factor

78 new deaths

240 total deaths

April 6

1,470 new cases

12,890 total cases

13% increase

0.99 growth factor

12 new deaths

162 total deaths

April 5

1,493 new

11,510 total cases

15% increase

0.93 growth factor

14 new deaths

150 total deaths

April 4

1,597 new

10,017 total

19% increase

1.14 growth factor

34 new deaths

136 total deaths

April 3

1,404 new cases

8,420 total cases

20% increase

1.16 growth factor

102 deaths, all adults

April 2

1,211 new cases

7,016 total cases

21% increase

1.26 growth factor

16 new deaths

90 total death, all adults

April 1

962 new cases

5,805 total cases

20% increase

1.27 growth factor

74 deaths, all adults

about 620 hospitalized since March 6

March 31

756 new cases

4,843 cases

18% increase

1.09 growth factor

63 deaths

about 514 hospitalized since March 6

about 159 needed ICU

about 94 needed ventilators

RELATED: Read all PennLive coverage of the new coronavirus here.

March 30

693 new cases

4,087 total cases

20% increase

1.06 growth factor

48 deaths

about 386 hospitalized since March 6

about 110 needed ICU

about 67 needed ventilators

March 29

649 new cases

3,400 total cases

24% increase

1.22 growth factor

March 28

533 new cases

2,751 total cases

24% percent increase

1.004 growth factor

March 27

531 new cases

2,218 total cases

31% increase

.95 growth factor

March 26

560 new cases

1,687 total cases

50% increase

2 growth factor

March 25

276 new cases

1,127 total cases

32% increase

1.33 growth factor

March 24

207 new cases

851 total cases

32% increase

1.25 growth factor

March 23

165 new cases

644 total cases

34% increase

1.53 growth factor

March 22

108 new cases

479 total cases

29% increase

1.05 growth factor

March 21

103 new cases

371 total cases

38% increase

1.24 growth factor

March 20

83 new cases

268 total cases

45% increase

1.6 growth factor

March 19

52 new cases

185 total cases

39% increase

1.4 growth factor

March 18

37 new cases

133 total cases

39% increase

1.85 growth factor

March 17

20 new cases

96 total cases

26% increase

1.54 growth factor

March 16

13 new cases

76 total cases

21% increase

.81 growth factor

March 15

16 new cases

63 total cases

34% increase

2.67 growth factor

March 14

6 new cases

47 total cases

14% increase

.31 growth factor

March 13

19 new cases

41 total cases

86% increase

3.2 growth factor

March 12

6 new cases

22 total cases

38 percent increase

1.5 growth factor

March 11

4 new cases

16 total cases

33% increase

2 growth factor

March 10

2 new cases

12 total cases

20% increase

.5 growth factor

March 9

4 new cases

10 total cases

67% increase

growth factor 2

March 8

2 new cases

6 total cases

50% increase

1 growth factor

March 7

2 new cases

4 total case

100% increase

1 growth factor

March 6

Pennsylvania registers its first 2 cases