Allegheny County adds 500 new covid cases, 1 new death

A day after posting a record number of new covid-19 cases Sunday, Allegheny County added another 500 new covid cases Monday.

The county’s health department reported 450 of the new cases were confirmed through 2,397 PCR tests conducted from Nov. 9-15 — a 18.8% positive new-PCR-test rate. In the state, Allegheny was second only to Philadelphia County (841) in new cases Monday. The new cases bring the county’s total to 20,526.

With those cases, Allegheny County set a new seven-day total record with 2,870 cases. In that time, it’s now averaging 410 cases per day.

The new cases range in age from 5 months to 93 years, with a median age of 40 years.

The county announced one new covid-related death — a person in their 70s on Nov. 14 — raising the county’s total to 459 deaths.

Of the new cases — 257 males, 243 females — the age breakdown is:

• Ages 0-4: 11
• Ages 5-12: 13
• Ages 13-18: 30
• Ages 19-24: 54
• Ages 25-49: 220
• Ages 50-64: 99
• Ages 65 and over: 73

More Allegheny County residents have been getting tested for the virus over the past month and a half. Currently, the county’s seven-day average of first-time PCR tests is 1,810; on Oct. 1, it was only 928 — about a 95% increase in testing.

However, the increase in positive results from those tests has gone up at a far higher rate. On Oct. 1, the county’s seven-day average of new positive PCR tests was 66; as of today’s report that number is 284 — a 330% spike.

“Cases are rising in Allegheny County because more people are infected with the virus,” said Dr. Debra Bogen, director of the Allegheny County Health Department.

“In Allegheny County and elsewhere in the country, the number of people who get tested increases in response to a rise in case numbers. As cases increase, there are more close contacts who are advised to get tested. Also, there are requirements for frequent testing in long-term-care facilities once a case has been identified in the facility, and this also increases the test numbers.

“Despite the increased number of tests performed in our county, the positivity rate from those tests has also increased over the past two weeks which supports that the rise is cases in not an artifact of more testing but in fact represents more widespread cases.”

In addition to a stark rise in confirmed cases, the county has seen a dramatic rise in hospitalizations, going from 53 on Oct. 1 to 312 as of Monday — a 489% increase.

According to the state’s covid-19 tracking website, of the 312 Allegheny County residents in the hospital with the virus, 107 of them are in intensive care units and 41 of them on ventilators. State officials report there are 814 operational ventilators in the county, with 222 (27.3%) currently in use for all illnesses.

To date, the county reports that 1,656 residents have been hospitalized for the virus, with 13 new hospitalizations since Saturday.

Allegheny County’s covid website is reporting outcomes in 12,581 cases — with 12,122 assumed to be recovered and 459 deaths. The current recovery rate for those whose case has an outcome is more than 96%. According to county estimates, there are about 7,945 covid-19 cases without an assumed outcome yet.

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.

Another Allegheny County jail employee has tested positive, according to the county website. To date, 23 workers tested positive for covid, with 18 recoveries. The county has tested 151 workers to date. There continues to be no new cases among inmates, with 629 tested — 38 positives, 583 negatives. All of the covid-positive inmates have either recovered or been released.

Since the pandemic began in March, 18,029 county residents have had positive PCR tests for the virus, with 234,065 reported negative — meaning 7.15% of those PCR tests have been positive.