Allegheny County's covid hospitalizations dip below 100 for 1st time since October

Nearly all covid-19 numbers in Pennsylvania continue to drop to levels not seen since before the fall surge.

On Thursday, Pennsylvania added 656 new covid-19 cases to its total, with nearly 20% of them coming from one county: Philadelphia (123). The next highest reporting county was York with just 36 new cases.

In an example of how far the new coronavirus case counts have declined, Allegheny County on Thursday registered the fourth-highest number of new cases in the state: 33. That’s the third-lowest daily case count in the county since Sept. 1.

Also in Allegheny County, hospitalizations for covid-19 have dipped below 100 for the first time since Oct. 17.

Cases

Of Pennsylvania’s latest cases, 444 are confirmed through PCR testing, while 212 are listed as probable.

In the past week, the state has recorded 4,563 new covid cases. Just 34 days ago, the state recorded 4,607 new cases in a single day. The state’s seven-day case average is at 652, which is just two more than the average was on Aug. 31, 2020.

Since the pandemic began last year, Pennsylvania has reported 1,204,099 covid cases, with 1,009,024 confirmed through PCR testing.

There were just 14 new cases reported Thursday in Westmoreland County — the sixth lowest new case count in the past eight months. Of those new cases, three were confirmed and 11 listed as probable. To date, Westmoreland County has amassed 34,164 coronavirus cases, with 22,992 counted as confirmed.

Among Allegheny County’s 33 new cases, 25 were confirmed and eight listed as probable. New cases ranged in age from 1 to 68 years old, with a median age of 39.

Health officials said that previous age misclassifications among cases were corrected, resulting in two cases for the 5-12 age group being withdrawn. The age breakdown of new cases — 19 females, 14 males — are:

• Ages 0-4: 1
• Ages 5-12: -2
• Ages 13-18: 7
• Ages 19-24: 2
• Ages 25-49: 14
• Ages 50-64: 6
• Ages 65 and over: 5

The county’s seven-day new case average is at 44, the lowest it has been in nearly a year. On June 26, 2020, the average hit 35 in the beginning of what would be a small summer surge.

Since the pandemic’s start, Allegheny County has registered 101,411 covid cases, with 76,780 confirmed.

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.

New case counts for Thursday among other Western Pennsylvania counties: Beaver (11), Fayette (7), Butler (5), Indiana (5), Lawrence (4), Washington (4), Greene (3) and Somerset (2). Armstrong and Clarion counties both saw no new cases reported on Thursday.

Vaccinations

The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that 7.25 million Pennsylvanian adults (age 18 and older) have at least one dose of a covid vaccine — that’s 71.3% of the adult population. There are 5.55 million (54.6%) adults who are fully vaccinated.

In Allegheny County, 749,619 residents have at least one dose, which is 61.28% of all those living in the county. There are 551,472 (45.08%) who are considered fully vaccinated.

In Westmoreland County, 172,126 (47.14%) of all residents have at least a dose, while 137,682 (37.70%) of all residents are fully vaccinated.

Among all Pennsylvania counties, Chester has the highest amount of its population with at least one dose (68.15%), while Fulton is the lowest (22.86%). Of all counties fully vaccinated, Montour has the highest amount (54.81%), while Potter has the fewest (18.96%).

Hospitalizations

In Allegheny County, the latest information from OpenData PA shows 94 residents hospitalized with covid-19. It’s the first time since Oct. 17 that the county had fewer than 100 covid patients in county facilities. Of those currently in the hospital, 31 are in intensive care units, with 12 on ventilators.

Hospitalizations in the county have dropped 53% since May 1 (200) and 89% since the peak of the fall/winter surge on Dec. 16 (881).

Westmoreland County has 19 residents in the hospital with covid — three of those in ICUs and four on ventilators.

Statewide, there are 900 Pennsylvanians hospitalized for coronavirus. Of those, 212 are in ICUs and 125 on ventilators.

Deaths

Health officials reported 36 new covid-related deaths in the state, bringing the total number of Pennsylvanians lost since the beginning of the pandemic to 27,295. Of the new deaths, one is from June, 33 are from May and two are from April.

In Allegheny County, health officials said there were no new deaths. The total number of covid deaths in the county stand at 1,953.

No new deaths were reported in Westmoreland County, leaving the pandemic total at 769.