Allegheny County covid cases rise, Pittsburgh schools reinstate mask mandate

Covid-19 cases are on the rise again in Allegheny County, sending the county into “medium” community level as defined by federal guidelines and triggering mandatory masking across Pittsburgh Public Schools.

The levels laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — low, medium, and high — take into account the number of new cases per 100,000 people over a week’s time, the number of hospital admissions and the percentage of hospital beds occupied by covid patients.

The move to medium triggered mandatory masking at all Pittsburgh Public Schools buildings. The district lifted its mask mandate last month with the stipulation that it would be reinstated if Allegheny County rose above the low level. Outbreaks at several schools already had prompted closures at several buildings.

From May 5 to 11, 3,195 positive cases were reported to the Allegheny County Health Department, including 434 self-reported at-home tests, according to county data. That’s more than 1,000 more than the week prior: 1,895 positive tests, including 128 at-home tests.

CDC guidelines for counties in the medium level suggest that high-risk patients talk to their doctors about masking and other precautions. Regardless of transmission level, the CDC urges all to stay up to date with vaccinations and get tested if symptoms arise.

Allegheny is the only county in Western Pennsylvania that has risen above the low community level.

The viral count of covid-19 in the county’s wastewater doubled from the third week of April to the fourth, the county health department reported previously. Heavy rains diluted wastewater samples last week, county health officials said, making testing inconclusive.

The positivity rate has risen to more than 17% as of early May even as the number of tests has remained relatively level. The positivity rate was just over 5% a month prior.

Hospitalizations remained stable: 41 new admissions from May 5 to 11 and 41 the week prior, from April 28 to May 4.

As of Friday, state Department of Health data showed 109 total covid patients hospitalized in Allegheny County, including 14 in intensive care and four on ventilators. The number of patients hospitalized in Allegheny County peaked during the omicron surge at a 14-day moving average of more than 700 in late January before falling to roughly 40 in mid-April. Numbers have crept upward since then.

It is a trend mirrored statewide.

At the height of the most recent surge, the average number of patients hospitalized peaked at about 7,000, according to state data. That dropped sharply to an average of just over 700 through mid-April. As of Friday, 907 covid patients were hospitalized in Pennsylvania, including 96 in the ICU and 36 on ventilators.

Since the start of the pandemic, Allegheny County has seen more than 271,800 covid-19 cases and 3,263 deaths. In Pennsylvania, there have been just under 2.6 million cases and 44,814 deaths. Nationwide, more than 82 million cases have been diagnosed, and deaths are nearing the 1 million mark — 996,376 as of Friday, with an average of 272 deaths per day.

Covid cases in Westmoreland County slightly increased over the past week but still averaged fewer than 100 a day.