Allegheny County covid numbers continue to decline

Despite surpassing 74,000 cases of coronavirus Thursday, Allegheny County’s overall covid averages continue to decline.

The county health department’s latest report added 247 new cases of the virus. Of those, 114 cases were confirmed through 940 new PCR tests, processed from Feb. 8 to Wednesday. Officials said four of the positive tests were more than a week old.

Health officials reported 103 of the new cases were probable. Probable cases are defined as those in which a patient has a positive viral antigen test or covid symptoms with a “high-risk exposure” to someone who has been confirmed to have coronavirus.

The county’s seven-day average dropped to 230, which is 24% lower than on Feb. 1 (301) and 55% lower than one month ago (515).

With a total of 74,060, Allegheny County has the second highest number of covid cases in the state, behind only Philadelphia (110,906).

New cases ranged in age from 3 years to 96 years with a median age of 38 years.

Among the new cases — 118 female, 129 male — the age breakdown was:

• Ages 0-4: 3
• Ages 5-12: 11
• Ages 13-18: 24
• Ages 19-24: 21
• Ages 25-49: 105
• Ages 50-64: 47
• Ages 65 and over: 36

County health officials reported no new covid-related deaths Thursday, keeping the county’s death toll at 1,610. However, on Thursday, the state’s health department reported eight new covid-related deaths in the county for a death total of 1,666. The discrepancy between the county and the state is attributed to different reporting methods.

Health officials report that 131,520 county residents have received at least one dose of a covid vaccine, while 42,302 individuals have received both shots.

After several days of increases in hospitalization numbers, Thursday’s update on the Open Data PA website showed a decline of 10 — with 220 Allegheny County residents hospitalized for covid-19. Of those, 56 are in intensive care units and 17 on a ventilator.

At the Allegheny County Jail, 1,555 inmates have been tested, yielding 161 positives and 1,331 negatives. There are 55 tests still awaiting results, with the remaining tests labeled as “indeterminate.” There are currently eight covid-positive inmates in the facility, with 153 either recovered or released. Among employees, there have been 112 positive tests and 193 negatives; 104 have recovered.

Since the pandemic began last year, there have been 74,060 cases among Allegheny County residents, with 58,171 of them confirmed positive through PCR tests and 15,889 categorized as probable.