Allegheny County reports 71 new covid-19 cases, 6 new hospitalizations

Allegheny County on Monday saw a decrease in newly reported covid-19 cases, but health officials said they aren’t “reading anything into a single low number.”

The county reported 71 new cases, six new hospitalizations and no new deaths, which come from 741 test results.

The low number comes a little less than two weeks after the county experienced a record-setting 233 cases on July 2.

Worth noting that this is a 9.6% positivity rate https://t.co/GCwcig3DuD

— Megan Guza (@meganguzaTrib) July 13, 2020

County health officials instituted restrictions to help stem the increase in new case numbers.

On Wednesday, the county reported 230 new covid-19 cases. There were 158 new cases reported Thursday, 180 new cases Friday, 215 new cases Saturday and 200 new cases on Sunday.

Monday’s numbers bring the total number of coronavirus cases in Allegheny County to 5,033.

There are 4,842 confirmed and 191 probable cases.

In the newest cases, ages range from 5 to 93, with the median age being 40, according to the county health department. Positive results are from tests that span July 1 through July 12.

The total number of hospitalizations increased by six to 470. No new deaths were reported by the county on Monday, leaving the death toll at 198.

Of those, 186 are confirmed to be linked to the coronavirus and 12 are probable. Those who died are between the ages of 23 and 103, with the median age being 84, county health officials said.

About 10% of the total cases — 520 — are in health care workers. Women make up 53% of the cases.

County health officials said while they are glad to see the low number of positive cases, testing over the weekend is typically lower. That means there is a decrease in cases and tests reported on Mondays.

Additionally, officials said, the increased volume of residents being tested has slowed the reporting process down.

“We are hopeful that this is the trend but would be remiss if we did not remind everyone to continue wearing masks, washing their hands and maintaining physical distance from others to keep our community safe,” officials said.