Allegheny County officials plead for 'wake-up call' amid rising covid numbers

Allegheny County officials and medical experts from across the county delivered a dire and pleading message Thursday as the number of covid-19 cases continued to rise, with this week’s new case count likely to top 2,000.

“These data concern me and they must be a wake-up call to everyone in our county,” said Allegheny County Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen.

County officials on Thursday announced 412 newly reported cases of covid-19, of which 341 came from tests and 71 were probable. That’s a 19.7% positivity rate.

Bogen said that although no new public health orders are planned right now, “we will continue watching the situation in our county closely and intervene if necessary.”

Bogen says there will be no intervention right now but there could be depending on where numbers go and what case investigations show pic.twitter.com/GV2nGvPd8M

— Megan Guza (@meganguzaTrib) November 12, 2020

She noted specifically that targeted mitigation efforts in March and later in June effectively stopped the sharp rise in the first and second waves of the virus.

“We’re waiting to see what our case investigations show to lead us to where we go,” she said. “I want to wait and be responsive to what happens in our community, so here’s a call: We can do this together now, we can get our case numbers under control if people follow these instructions.

“In the future,” she continued, “we’ll see. I make no predictions.”

Bogen said there have been nearly 19,000 covid-19 diagnoses in the county since March, which led to nearly 1,600 hospitalizations and 456 deaths.

“That means,” she said, “for every 100 cases that were confirmed in our county so far, two people have died.”

That number, she said, will rise. She said the cases per week have nearly tripled in less than a month.

“We will lose more family and friends despite the amazing medical care and health care in our county,” she said. “According to national models, if cases continue to increase, we will have hundreds of people die in our communities in the coming months.”

She said gatherings, even small ones like sleepovers, birthday parties, baby showers and sports banquets, put people at risk. She pointed to an outbreak traced to a wedding attended by 45 people, 18 of whom have now become ill. One has been hospitalized.

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald spoke directly to parents, imploring them to keep their children from parties and other gatherings. School and sports are not the issue, he said, but rather when children get together after school.

“I know that is very difficult, because I’ve been there when your own kid comes and says, ‘Everybody else is allowed to go, I don’t want to be the only one – why do you have to be the mean parent?’” he said. “We need to be the safe parent. We need to be the responsible parent.”

He cautioned college students who will be home for winter break, including the notorious party and get-together time, the night before Thanksgiving. He said young people who get the virus and have mild symptoms should not assume that is the case for everyone.

“Just because you might have a couple of days of the sniffles and some achiness and you get better – that doesn’t mean that’s the case for your aunt, for your uncle, for your parents, for your grandparents,” he said. “We really need young people to step up and serve the community.”

To drive home the point, the county brought in representatives from UPMC, Allegheny Health Network, St. Clair Hospital and the Heritage Valley Health System to speak about the rise in cases and how they are preparing.

Dr. Donald Whiting, of AHN, said hospital admissions for covid-19 are rising, though he noted that fewer people are critically ill.

“Masking, hand-washing and social-distancing, particularly over the next three to six months, is critical to help us keep the economy moving, keep people working, keep all the activities we want to do going,” he said. “It’s all in our control at this point.”