Testing backlog yields 331 new covid-19 cases in Allegheny County

With 331 new covid-19 cases, Allegheny County shattered its single-day new case count by nearly 100 cases, health officials reported Tuesday.

However, the day’s total is based on a record 4,536 new tests, of which 7.3% were positive. The tests were conducted over more than a month’s span from June 8 through July 13.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported that 186 of Allegheny’s new cases were because of a reporting delay. Therefore, Allegheny County’s true increase within the past 24 hours was of 145 cases.

The county reported one new death, bringing the county’s total to 199. There were seven new hospitalizations.

The county has said testing over the weekend is typically lower, meaning a decrease in test reports and, thus, cases early in the week. Officials said they are working with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and laboratories to determine why there appears to be a lag in test results. On Monday, the county reported 71 new cases.

In comparison, Allegheny County Health Department’s new case count is three more than were reported in the entire state of Pennsylvania on Monday, when the state added 328 new cases.

Tuesday’s update — of which 328 are confirmed, three probable — accounts for 35% of the new cases in Pennsylvania, which was reporting 929 new cases Tuesday.

Allegheny’s increase Tuesday was, by far, the state’s largest. Philadelphia County reported 141 new cases. However, that new total includes a weekend lag in reporting, as no new cases were reported there yesterday. The next highest new-case count in the state came from Delaware and Chester counties, with each reporting 37 new cases.

To date, there have been 5,364 cases in Allegheny County.

In the newest cases, ages range from 5 months to 99 years old with the median age being 30.

This is the COVID-19 Daily Update from the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) for July 14, 2020.

Today’s report of 5,364 cases includes 331 new cases, 7 new hospitalizations and 1 additional death out of 4,536 test results. pic.twitter.com/uoi9EcWbHg

— Allegheny County Health Department (@HealthAllegheny) July 14, 2020

In the past 18 days, 2,982 new cases of covid-19 have been reported in Allegheny County — more than 55% of the county’s total. In the previous 104 days, only 2,382 cases were reported.

Of those that have been hospitalized, the county reports 169 people have been admitted to the intensive care unit, with 79 requiring mechanical ventilation.

As of Tuesday, the county estimates that 2,628 of those who have tested positive for covid-19 are considered recovered. According to the county, “Recovery is a calculation from the CDC … based on one of two conditions: 32 days have passed after a person was hospitalized for covid-19 and not deceased or 14 days have passed after a person tested positive … and they were not hospitalized.”

At the Allegheny County Jail, 31 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus since March 13, the county reported. Of those, three remain in the facility and 28 have either recovered or been released.

A total of 253 inmates have been tested, with 216 testing negative for a 14.4% positivity rate. Six tests are still pending. There have been no hospitalizations of inmates.

To date, eight staff members at the jail have also tested positive, and seven have recovered. In all, 66 staff members have tested negative with three tests pending, for a 12.1% positivity rate.

Allegheny County Treatment Alternative (ACTA), a 50-bed drug and alcohol inpatient facility, continues to report that 11 residents and four staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus.