Allegheny County's latest covid cases up from previous weekend

Allegheny County added 1,647 new cases of coronavirus over the past two days, the Health Department announced Monday.

While the new cases — 897 from Sunday and 750 from Monday — were slightly down from recent days, they were up 12% from the same time last week.

The county’s seven-day average of daily cases increased to 965, while the seven-day case total went to 6,753. Both are record highs.

There were five new deaths announced on Monday. The dates of death range from Nov. 27 to Dec. 12. One person was in their 60s, three in their 70s and one in their 80s. Three deaths were associated with long-term care facilities. To date, a total of 665 county residents have died of covid-19 illness.

Among the new cases, 1,481 were confirmed through 5,106 PCR tests administered from Oct. 20 to Dec. 13; 166 of the new cases are considered probable. Of the new tests, 26 positives are more than a week old.

Among the new cases — 898 females, 749 males — the age breakdown is:

• Ages 0-4: 35
• Ages 5-12: 38
• Ages 13-18: 62
• Ages 19-24: 146
• Ages 25-49: 640
• Ages 50-64: 383
• Ages 65 and over: 343

The county estimates that 15,817 residents have recovered from the virus. 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. The recovery rate among the cases with an assumed outcome is currently at 95.97% in the county.

According to the state’s covid-19 dashboard, there are currently 820 county residents hospitalized for covid, with 221 in intensive care units. Of those, 128 are on ventilators. Officials report 46% of the county’s available ventilators are being used for all illnesses.

Only 15% of the county’s adult hospital beds are currently available to new patients, and only 11% of ICU beds are open.

As of Thursday, the Allegheny County Jail had 27 inmates with the virus in the facility. Overall, 857 inmates have been tested, with 716 being negative and 69 awaiting results. To date, 39 covid-positive inmates have either recovered or been released. Among workers there, 58 have tested positive, 162 negative and three are waiting on results; 28 workers have recovered from the virus.

Since the pandemic began in March, 40,874 Allegheny County residents have contracted the virus; 34,760 of them confirmed through PCR tests. There have been 280,669 residents who have tested negative.