Allegheny County posts 116 new covid cases over past 2 days, no new deaths

The Allegheny County Health Department announced 42 new covid-19 cases Monday, in addition to 74 cases from Sunday.

Monday’s new cases are the lowest daily addition in the past 13 days.

In the past 48 hours, the department said 2,175 PCR tests were processed, and all 116 positive cases were confirmed. The new cases range in age from 4 to 92, with a median age of 33. The tests were conducted from Aug. 12-Sept. 19, with the majority of tests from Sept. 12-19.

PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests are the most common covid-19 tests and look for virus’ genetic material in the nose, throat or other areas of the respiratory tract to determine whether a person has an active infection. This is opposed to serology tests that look for antibodies the body produces to fight SARS-CoV-2, which indicates a person has had a past infection.

The county reported there were no new covid-related deaths over the past two days.

Of the new cases, 61 were females, 55 were males. The age breakdown of the new cases was:

• Ages 0-4: 1
• Ages 5-12: 5
• Ages 13-18: 7
• Ages 19-24: 27
• Ages 25-49: 36
• Ages 50-64: 24
• Ages 65 and over: 16

On Monday, the county reported 180 residents were tested at the new McKeesport covid-19 drive-up testing site in its first week of operation. The site is open to anyone who makes an appointment by calling 412-209-2262 or registering online (an email address is required). The site is located at 455 Industry Road.

Online registration offers next-day appointments, while phone registration can offer same-day appointments when available. The testing is made possible by CARES Act funding that has been allocated directly to the county with support from the state. For more information, visit the county’s website.

The county released its weekly update on covid cases broken down by neighborhood/municipality. Baldwin Borough continues to have the most cases (442), followed by Penn Hills (380), Ross (363), Mt. Lebanon (300) and Whitehall (256). In the past week, the biggest increase of cases was in Whitehall, with 38 new cases — followed by Baldwin Borough (37), South Fayette (29), Central Oakland (28), Ross (20) and Westwood (20).

Ross has 35 covid-related deaths, leading the county. It’s followed by Richland (31), Glen Hazel (21) and Kennedy (20).

According to the state’s covid-19 tracking website, there are currently 42 county residents in the hospital for the virus, with six of them on ventilators. According to the state, there are 820 ventilators in the county, with 170 (20.7%) currently in use for all illnesses. To date, 1,158 residents have been hospitalized for the virus.

The county’s website is reporting outcomes in 8,811 cases — where 8,438 are assumed to be recovered, with 373 deaths. That makes the recovery rate nearly 96% in cases with an outcome. Out of the county’s total covid-19 cases (11,779), there remain 2,968 cases without an assumed outcome.

The website counts individuals as recovered based on one of two conditions: It’s been 32 days since the person was hospitalized for covid-19 and not deceased; or, if they were not hospitalized, 14 days since they tested positive.

At the Allegheny County Jail, it’s been several weeks since the last new positive case was reported. To date, 495 inmates have been tested, with 38 being positive — all of which have either recovered or been released. There are 11 tests still pending. Among jail workers, there have been 15 positive cases out of a total of 120 employees tested. Twelve workers at the jail have recovered.