Allegheny County adds 555 new covid cases, 12 deaths

Allegheny County added 555 new cases of covid-19 Wednesday, according to the Health Department.

The new cases include 480 cases confirmed from 2,420 new PCR tests conducted from Nov. 4-24; 10 of the tests are more than a week old.

There were 75 cases listed as probable. Health officials define a probable case as one 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 new cases range in age from 10 months to 98 years, with a median age of 44 years.

In the past 11 days, Allegheny County has seen more cases (5,680) than it did in all of October and September combined (5,449).

To date, there have been 25,179 cases in the county since the pandemic began in March.

The county announced 12 new covid-related deaths Wednesday, bringing the total since March to 498. The dates of death ranged from Nov. 6-22. One person was in their 40s, one in their 50s, one in their 60s, three in their 70s, two in their 80s and four in their 90s. Eight of the deaths were associated with long-term care facilities.

Among the new cases — 287 female and 268 male — the age breakdown was:

• Ages 0-4: 3
• Ages 5-12: 14
• Ages 13-18: 30
• Ages 19-24: 57
• Ages 25-49: 223
• Ages 50-64: 134
• Ages 65 and over: 94

According to the state’s covid-19 tracking website, of the 493 Allegheny County residents in the hospital with the virus, 153 of them are in intensive care units and 81 of them on ventilators. State officials report there are 840 operational ventilators in the county, with 253 (30%) currently in use for all illnesses.

To date, the county reports that 1,909 residents have been hospitalized for the virus, with 35 new hospitalizations announced Wednesday.

Allegheny County’s covid website is reporting outcomes in 13,639 cases — with 13,141 assumed to be recovered and 498 deaths. The current recovery rate for those whose case has an outcome is more than 96.3%. According to county estimates, there are about 11,540 covid-19 cases without an assumed outcome yet.

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.

Another three Allegheny County jail employees have tested positive since Monday, when 10 workers were announced to have tested positive for the virus over the weekend. To date, 36 workers have tested positive for covid, with 21 recoveries. The county has tested 177 workers to date. There are six pending tests among workers.

“We have worked with the union leadership to ensure the proper staffing to maintain the safety and security of all inmates and employees,” Warden Orlando Harper said Monday. “We are confident that these measures will ensure the necessary levels of staffing for the continued security of the facility.”

Cases among inmates have not increased recently. A total of 646 have been tested, yielding 38 positives and 602 negatives, with a few tests pending results. All of the covid-positive inmates have either recovered or been released.

Since the pandemic began in March, 21,736 county residents have had positive PCR tests for the virus, with 250,278 reported negative — meaning 8% of those PCR tests have been positive.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct definition for probable covid-19 cases.