Allegheny County's average of new covid cases hits low not seen since November

Allegheny County’s seven-day covid-19 case average dropped to 210 on Friday, a low that hasn’t been seen since November.

The Allegheny County Health Department reported 191 additional coronavirus cases. The last time the county’s current seven-day case average was this low was 207 on Nov. 8. The overall number of cases in the county increased to 98,723.

Westmoreland County saw 68 additional cases — 58 confirmed and 10 probable — with its total climbing to 33,179.

Pennsylvania’s covid case total grew to 1,169,678 with an additional 2,986 cases Friday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Philadelphia had the most newly reported cases in the state with 339, followed by Allegheny (191), Montgomery (166), Berks (161) and Bucks (143).

Deaths

Of the 47 deaths newly reported Friday in Pennsylvania, 24 are from May, 21 are from April and two are from December. Those bring the state’s total deaths related to covid-19 to 26,494.

The Allegheny County Health Department reported six additional deaths to hit 1,896 in the county. The deaths ranged from July 1, 2020, to May 1, with one person in their 70s, three in their 80s and two in their 90s. The Pennsylvania Department of Health, meanwhile, added four deaths to Allegheny County, with its total climbing to 1,919. The discrepancy between the two health departments hasn’t fully been explained.

Westmoreland County added one additional death to reach 747 overall. Elsewhere in the region, Butler, Indiana and Washington each saw one death.

Deaths linked to long-term care facilities in the state grew to 13,178, accounting for almost 50% of the state’s covid deaths. Montgomery (1,100) and Allegheny (1,032) have been the most affected. Here are total long-term care deaths for the rest of the region:

• Armstrong: 45
• Beaver: 221
• Butler: 279
• Fayette: 119
• Indiana: 63
• Somerset: 104
• Washington: 141
• Westmoreland: 318

Vaccinations

Pennsylvania has reached 43.4% of its population 18 and older being fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pennsylvania’s mask mandate will be removed once the number hits 70%, the state announced earlier this week. The state has said it will base its metric for hitting the 70% on the CDC’s numbers.

Allegheny County has reached 37.56% (459,483) of its population fully vaccinated with another 227,275 partially vaccinated, according to state data. The county has averaged about 3,797 people becoming fully vaccinated since Jan. 6, when the first 15 people got their second shots.

In Westmoreland County, it’s 31.45% (114,862) fully vaccinated and 41,849 partially vaccinated. Since March 1, Westmoreland has averaged 1,337 people becoming fully vaccinated every day.

Hospitalizations

Covid hospitalizations in Pennsylvania declined for the 15th time in the past 16 days, shrinking by 35 down to 2,012. It’s the state’s lowest hospitalization total since March 30, when 1,980 were hospitalized. The state has 436 covid patients in intensive care units and 237 on ventilators.

In Allegheny County, hospitalizations creeped up by four to 184, with 62 in the ICU and 33 requiring ventilators.

Westmoreland County declined by nearly 20%, dropping from 39 to 31. There are five covid patients in an ICU and two needing ventilators.