Allegheny County adds 830 coronavirus cases, could hit 50K later this week

Allegheny County’s coronavirus case total grew by 830 on Wednesday, putting the county on pace to reach 50,000 later this week.

At its current pace — after averaging 819 cases per day over the past week — the county’s total will hit 50,000 on Christmas Day. Only Philadelphia has reached that total, crossing 50,000 on Nov. 17. It now has 82,788 cases.

The new cases bring the county’s total to 48,738, according to the Allegheny County Health Department. The new cases — 621 confirmed and 209 probable — stem from 2,224 new PCR tests.

The health department also reported four new deaths to bring the county’s total to 794. Those deaths occurred from Dec. 12 to Dec. 21, with two people in their 80s and two in their 90s. Two of the deaths were associated with long-term care facilities. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 22 new deaths in the county, bringing the state’s total in Allegheny County to 867. The discrepancy between the two health departments has been attributed to different reporting methods.

The new cases — 452 female and 378 male — came from tests ranging from Nov. 22 to Dec. 22. The cases range from one week to 104 years with a median age of 45. Only eight of the positives are more than a week old, according to the county health department. Here’s how the cases broke down by age:

• 0-4: 11
• 5-12: 37
• 13-18: 33
• 19-24: 71
• 25-49: 329
• 50-64: 181
• 65+: 168

According to the state’s covid-19 dashboard, there are currently 788 coronavirus patients hospitalized in the county, a decline of 18 from Tuesday’s 806. The county has 901 ventilators, with 376 in use, including 116 by covid-19 patients. There are also 220 covid-19 patients in Allegheny County intensive care units, with just 9.6% of county ICU beds available.

Allegheny County had the most new cases in the state, followed by Philadelphia (624), York (565), Montgomery (470) and Lancaster (469).

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.