Allegheny County adds 173 new covid cases, 7 new deaths

Allegheny County announced 173 new cases of covid-19 on Friday, according to the Health Department.

Officials said of those new cases, 110 have been confirmed, based on 1,376 PCR tests conducted from Oct. 16-29. There were 63 probable cases, of which 37 came from positive antigen tests.

The new cases range in age from 5 to 98 years old, with the median age being 35.

The county also announced seven new deaths, all but one of which were associated with long-term care facilities. Recorded deaths range from Oct. 3-29. Of those, one person was in their 70s, five were in their 80s and one in their 90s.

Allegheny County’s seven-day case total is 935, the highest it has been since Aug. 2. The seven-day total has been rising steadily since the beginning of October.

The daily testing rate for the county has been dropping in the past couple of week, with a seven-day average now at 1,239. Friday’s batch of tests come with a 12.57% positivity rate, bringing the county’s overall seven-day rate up to 10.78%.

The age breakdown of the new cases — 86 females, 87 males — is:

• Ages 5-12: 7
• Ages 13-18: 12
• Ages 19-24: 31
• Ages 25-49: 71
• Ages 50-64: 23
• Ages 65 and over: 30

Officials said one previously positive case attributed to the 0-4 age range was reclassified within another age range or was misidentified as being a county resident, which is why sum of the age breakdown cases adds up to 174.

According to the state’s covid-19 tracking website, there are 157 Allegheny County residents currently hospitalized with covid, 24 of them on ventilators. State officials report there are 808 operational ventilators in the county, with 196 (24.3%) in use for all illnesses. To date, the county reports 1,448 residents have been hospitalized for the virus, with six new hospitalizations announced Friday.

The county’s website is reporting outcomes in 11,196 cases — with 10,761 assumed to be recovered and 435 deaths. The current recovery rate for those whose case has an outcome is just over 96%. Of the county’s 15,622 total covid-19 cases, 4,426 cases remain without an assumed outcome. Cases are considered to be “recovered” after it’s been 32 days since the person was hospitalized for covid-19 and not deceased, or if they weren’t hospitalized within 14 days of testing positive.

Health officials continue to urge residents to wear masks, wash their hands and maintain physical distance from others to keep the community safe.