Allegheny County covid cases fall, county drops to medium transmission zone

Covid-19 cases in Allegheny County have fallen over the past three weeks, and the county dropped in the medium transmission zone as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of new covid cases reported to the county health department from June 2-8 dropped to 2,616 — down from 3,135 in the seven days prior and 4,386 two weeks ago.

As cases dropped in the county, hospitalizations rose. Increases in hospitalizations and deaths generally lag several weeks behind spikes in case counts.

Over the past week, 199 people were hospitalized with the virus in Allegheny, and 159 were hospitalized the week prior. Eighteen covid patients died over the past seven days, according to the health department.

The amount of virus in the county’s wastewater also decreased last week, about 60% to 70% each day. Omicron remains the dominant variant, with BA.2 making up about 77% to 90% of all omicron cases.