Allegheny County records 2nd highest new covid-19 case count

Allegheny County saw its second biggest addition of new covid-19 cases Friday, with the county’s Health Department reporting 244 new incidences.

The cases come from a batch of tests conducted from over the past month, 30 of which have specimen collection dates from more than two weeks ago.

Officials said they were aware of the backlog and have already completed case investigation and contact tracing. On the state level, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced Friday it will boost its covid-19 contact tracing staff by about 1,000 more workers.

The county added 33 new hospitalizations, but county spokeswoman Amie Downs said that number is over the past three weeks. In all, a total of 669 have been hospitalized in Allegheny County for covid-19.

In an email, Downs said the stark uptick in reported hospitalizations over the past two days (55) is mostly a result of the health department updating data from the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System, which compiles information from hospitals.

She said data shows new hospital admissions reached a peak in mid-July and that the number of people in hospitals peaked about two weeks ago. “Both appear to be declining,” Downs said, “however there is a lag in the reporting of up-to-date hospitalization data.”

Downs said the county’s hospitals “continue to report open beds and the capacity to add more if needed.”

In the month of July, the county added 276 people to the hospitalized list, which includes both past and present hospitalizations.

On Friday, the county added four new deaths, bringing the total number of county residents who have died from the virus to 239. The reported deaths range in age from 74-93 years, with dates of death spanning July 23-29.

New cases in the county range in age from 2 to 103 years with a median age of 52 years. The cases were the result of tests conducted from June 30-July 30.

The county said the new cases reported today represent at least 77 known to be among long-term care residents and staff.

On Friday, Allegheny County was the source of the largest new cases in the state, with 244. Philadelphia County added the second most with 130. Those two counties accounted for more than 38% of the state’s new covid-19 cases.

In the month of July, Allegheny County added 5,400 new covid-19 cases to its total of 8,094. That accounts for nearly 67% of all of the county’s cases since March, when the pandemic began.

July’s totals were more than six times higher than June’s 849 cases. In May, the county had 622 cases, in April there were 964 and in March there were 325.

In July, Allegheny County averaged 174 new cases per day, while in June the average was only 28. In May, the average was 20 cases per day.

To date, the county’s website records there have been outcomes in 5,097 cases — 4,861 are assumed to be recovered and 239 have died. In cases with an outcome, the recovery rate is more than 95%. There are 2,952 cases without an assumed outcome.

On its website, the county says, “Recovery is a calculation from the CDC … based on one of two conditions: 32 days have passed after a person was hospitalized for covid-19 and not deceased or 14 days have passed after a person tested positive … and they were not hospitalized.”

At the Allegheny County Jail, officials report no new instances of covid-19 infections. As it stands 34 inmates and 11 employees have tested positive since March 13. Two covid-19-positive inmates remain in the facility, with 32 having either recovered or been released. A total of 311 inmates have been tested, with 274 testing negative for an 10.9% positivity rate. The county reports two inmates’ tests are still pending.

Among workers, 97 have been tested, with 80 being negative for a positivity rate of 11.3%. Six tests among employees are pending.

Health officials continue to urge residents to wear masks, wash their hands and maintain physical distance from others to keep the community safe.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect new information on hospitalizations from the county.