Allegheny County reports 326 new covid cases, 2 deaths

Allegheny County on Saturday recorded 326 new coronavirus cases, as recent daily numbers continue to stay below the 500-case mark.

Reports haven’t reached 500 cases in nearly two weeks.

The county now seems far beyond the time when it routinely reported case counts near the 1,000 mark. It had reported nine days of at least 1,000 new cases, but hasn’t posted one in the past four weeks, according to data from the Allegheny County Health Department.

Two deaths were reported Saturday, increasing the county’s toll to 1,453.

That’s 190 more deaths than at the same time the preceding week.

The date of death for both victims, who were both in their 80s, was Wednesday, Jan. 27. Both deaths were also linked to long-term care facilities.

Thursday’s numbers included 135 deaths, a record high for the county’s daily report. However, the large total was blamed on a lag in reporting.

The county has amassed 69,135 cases of covid-19, according to the county Health Department.

Of the new cases, 234 are confirmed, and 92 are listed as probable. 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.

The recent batch of samples comprising 1,432 tests was collected from Jan. 22 through Friday. Six positive tests were more than a week old, officials said.

The tests yielded a positivity rate of about 16%. The cases range in age from 6 months to 97 years old, with a median age of 42.

Eight new hospitalizations were reported. Officials say 4,234 people have been hospitalized — 356 more than at the same time the preceding week — since the virus was first reported in Allegheny County on March 14.

With one day left in January, Allegheny County has reported 14,773 covid-19 cases, which is an average of 493 per day.

Throughout December, the county had amassed 25,405 new cases. This represents nearly 40% of Allegheny County’s cases.

That averaged 820 per day.

In November, officials recorded 12,608 new cases. December more than doubled that amount.

In the entirety of October, the county saw 3,448 new cases of the virus, which was an increase of 72.3% from September (2,001).

According to the Allegheny County covid website, officials are estimating that more than 23,000 people have now recovered from the virus.

The website counts people as recovered based on one of two conditions: It’s been 32 days since the person was hospitalized for covid-19 and is still alive; or, if they were not hospitalized, 14 days since they tested positive.

Samson X Horne is a Tribune-Review digital producer. You can contact Samson at 412-320-7845, shorne@triblive.com or via Twitter .