Allegheny County officials call for more covid-19 tests as daily testing numbers drop

The number of tests for covid-19 administered each day in Allegheny County has dropped, Allegheny County Health Department officials said Wednesday.

This data comes as county officials renewed calls for more testing in order to inform when and how physical distancing measures could be lifted and businesses reopened.

“Only about 1% of our county has been tested for covid-19, and it’s difficult to make decisions about 1.2 million people in the county when you have data on only 1%,” said Dr. Debra Bogen, director of the Allegheny County Health Department.

County data show that 13,021 people have been tested in Allegheny County.

About 300 to 400 people have been tested each day in recent days, Bogen said. That’s down from about 500 to 600 people per day earlier this month, even as more test sites have opened up across the county.

Bogen said health department officials don’t know why the number of tests administered has dropped, and noted that the health department does not oversee the tests. Testing is handled by health care providers.

A map of testing sites in Allegheny County is available on the county website.

“We need tests that have fast turnaround times so that people aren’t waiting long for the results,” Bogen said. “Tests should be available at doctors’ offices, federally qualifying community health centers that serve the uninsured and the underinsured in our communities; at pharmacies, drive-up locations and walk-up locations.”

Daily reports of new positive cases have been below 40 since April 6 and have steadily decreased since April 16, Bogen said.

The positivity rate is holding steady at or below 10%.

The county reported 1,088 confirmed or probable cases and 74 deaths Wednesday.

Of those who died, 61 people were 70 or older, county data show.

The youngest person was 42 years old and had underlying medical conditions, Bogen said.

Health department officials are working to find out how people diagnosed with covid-19 are recovering but does not have that data available yet.

“I think that it’s really important information and we haven’t been able to get a good handle on that,” Bogen said. “But we’re working on that by calling our cases back and figuring out who has gotten better, how long it has taken them to get better.”

Restrictions on daily life and business could be relaxed in Allegheny County given that the situation is better here than in other parts of the state, and details about how and when that will happen are expected to come from the governor, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald encouraged residents to keep up physical distancing measures even as businesses start to reopen.

“Just because those numbers are good, doesn’t mean we want to take our foot off the gas and relax and get complacent, because it’s something to protect our family and protect our loved ones,” he said.

Some aspects of civil life, like the census and voting, can still happen, he added.

Fitzgerald reminded residents to complete the census online and to look for applications for vote-by-mail ballots in their mailbox.

So far, the county has received 87,000 applications. More than 30,000 applications have been processed, and of that number, 15,000 have been mailed, Fitzgerald said.