New covid-19 cases, hospitalizations rise for 3rd straight day in Allegheny County

The Allegheny County Health Department announced a record 22 new hospitalizations for covid-19 on Friday, along with 198 new cases.

Both figures represent the third straight day those numbers have gone up.

With Friday’s report, Allegheny County surpasses the 7,000 case mark, with a total of 7,015 cases since the pandemic began. It is, however, the seventh consecutive day the county has seen a new case count under 200, with an average of 146 new cases per day over that span. In the previous 12 days, the county topped 200 eight times, averaging 203 cases per day.

The new batch of positives come from 2,255 tests conducted from July 6-23. Of those positive cases, all but one were confirmed. New cases range in age from 2 months to 97 years with a median age of 42 years.

On Friday, the county reported two new covid-19 deaths. The deaths are of a 54-year-old and 89-year-old, whose dates of death are July 11 and 22, respectively.

Overall, the county reports 221 people have died from covid-19, while the Pennsylvania Department of Heath continues to report 216.

Officials report a total of 573 people have been hospitalized for covid-19, with 183 being admitted into intensive care units and 84 requiring a ventilator.

County spokeswoman Amie Downs said in an email that hospitalizations will lag behind case announcements by about two weeks.

“Based on the hospitalization data available to us now, it appears as if the peak thus far based on date of admission was around July 12,” Downs said. However, she cautioned that “peak” date could change. Health officials continually update their numbers as follow-ups are done and more details come in from health care partners.

Downs said that health department officials are in touch with local hospitals and have been assured that there are plenty of beds and space in the intensive care units.

Lately, the reports on Fridays have generally not been good news in Allegheny County. Five of the past six Fridays, the county has seen an uptick in new cases from the previous day’s report. In three of those cases, the increase was more than 65%.

This comes on the heels of a report from Johns Hopkins University that the percentage of Pennsylvanians being tested for covid-19 is among the lowest rates in the country.

The Commonwealth came in 47th out of the nation’s 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, the university’s data show.

At the Allegheny County Jail, officials reported another inmate and another staffer have tested positive.

To date, 33 inmates have tested positive since March 13, the county reports. Of those, three remain in the facility and 29 have either recovered or been released. A total of 297 inmates have been tested, with 238 testing negative for an 11.1% positivity rate, down from 12.5% on Monday. The county reports 25 tests are still pending. To date, no inmates have required hospitalization.

Ten employees at the jail have tested positive, with seven having recovered. In all, 72 staff members have tested negative with 7 tests still pending, for a 11.2% positivity rate, down from 15.3% on Monday.

The county’s unofficial tally of those it considers “recovered” continues to climb, with more than 4,000 now counted in that category.

According to the county’s covid-19 website, “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.”

In Allegheny County, there have been outcomes in 4,229 cases — 4,008 are assumed to have recovered, while 221 have died. Using the county’s numbers, that’s a 94.8% recovery rate, with a 5.2% fatality rate. There are 2,786 cases without an assumed outcome.

County health officials have said the large volume of new cases has created issues with results. On its website, the health department has posted a what-to-expect information sheet for those being tested and those who have been in contact with them.

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