Allegheny County reports no new deaths from covid-19 on Sunday

The Allegheny County Health Department on Sunday reported no additional covid-19 deaths and only 13 new confirmed or probable cases of the illness.

Officials, however, were reluctant to declare that viral infections have peaked. A spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Health Department noted that there are often delays in reporting that can change the apparent curve of the infection rate from day to day.

The new diagnoses bring the count of total of covid-19 cases to 1,211. Of those cases, 1,177 have been confirmed, while 34 are listed as probable.

Of the total 73 deaths, 66 are listed as confirmed cases of covid-19, while seven are considered probable.

Officials said the new numbers boosted the total of those hospitalized for covid-19 at some time since the outbreak of the virus from 211 to 213. Of those, 83 had required intensive care and 50 have been treated on ventilators. The county numbers don’t include the number of current patients being hospitalized.

At least 52 of the county’s covid-19 deaths — more than 70% — have been attributed to 32 nursing homes and personal care facilities, with at least 251 residents and 81 employees testing positive, state data show.

At least nine residents of the county-run Kane nursing home in Glen Hazel have died of covid-19, up from seven deaths reported there on Wednesday. Eight residents are hospitalized, another 60 have tested positive and 21 have recovered, with 33 employees testing positive, county data show.

Nursing homes account for as much as 60% of Pennsylvania’s covid-19 deaths statewide, Department of Health data show.

A case is listed as probable when a person displays symptoms of covid-19 and has had close contact with a confirmed positive case but has not had a test themselves. The county health department is including those probable cases to assess community spread.

The youngest person to have died from the virus in Allegheny County was 42 and had underlying conditions, health department officials said.

Officials report that the highest concentration of covid-19 cases in the county has occurred in Richland Township. There are 65 confirmed cases there, which comes to about 58 cases per 10,000 people.

More than 15,000 people have been tested for the coronavirus in Allegheny County.