Allegheny County sees sharp decline in covid cases from July to August

Allegheny County saw a stark decline in covid-19 cases from July to August.

The county’s health department announced 37 new coronavirus cases Monday, bringing the total for the month to 2,253. The county’s overall case numbers stand at 10,347.

The month of August saw 58% fewer new covid-19 cases than in July, when the county added 5,334 cases. July was particularly bad, accounting for more than half of all of the county’s covid-19 cases since the pandemic began in March.

While August’s cases declined, deaths associated with covid-19 were up. On Monday, the county said there were no new deaths to report, leaving 91 deaths in August as compared to 56 in July — a 62.5% increase. There were 20 deaths in June, 69 in May, 92 in April and 2 in March.

Of Monday’s 37 new cases, all were confirmed. The new cases came from 732 unique tests administered from Aug. 25-30. New cases range in age from 4 to 100 years, with a median age of 34 years.

Allegheny County updated its neighborhood/municipality breakdown on Monday. In the past week, Baldwin Borough saw the most new cases of covid (27), followed by Elizabeth Township (21), Bethel Park (18), Central Oakland (18), Penn Hills (12) and Jefferson Hills (12). Of the county’s 220 neighborhoods, 97 posted no new cases.

In the past week, there were five covid-19 related deaths in Ross, two in Baldwin Borough, with 14 others having one death.

The department said, as of Sunday, it is now counting all positive antigen tests as probable cases. Previously, cases with positive antigen tests were counted as probable only if the subject also had covid-19 symptoms or had close contact with a known case.

In a press release, the department said, “An antigen test is a newer and faster test for covid-19. The test detects proteins that are part of the virus and can produce results in minutes or hours with the right equipment. Currently, some universities and health systems use antigen tests. Their use is expected to expand to long-term care facilities.”

The department said the change will affect only future cases; past positive antigen tests without symptoms or close contact with a known case will not be reclassified as probable cases.

On Saturday, Pennsylvania Department of Health made the same change.

The county processed just over 33% fewer tests in August (38,564) than in July (57,863). However, the positivity rate of those tests dropped from 9.22% in July to 5.84% this past month.

Pennsylvania’s covid-19 tracking website reports there are 64 residents of Allegheny County currently being treated for covid-19 in hospitals, and 15 of them are on a ventilator. Monday, the county reported three new people to its total of 969 who have been hospitalized for the virus to date.

Allegheny County’s covid site counts outcomes in 7,667 cases — with 7,337 assumed to have recovered and 330 having died. The recovery rate stands at nearly 96% in all cases with an outcome. Out of the county’s total covid-19 cases, there are 2,680 cases without an assumed outcome. The website counts individuals as recovered based on one of two conditions: It’s been 32 days since the person was hospitalized for covid-19 and not deceased; or, if they were not hospitalized, 14 days since they tested positive.

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