No hoax: October marks pandemic's deadliest month to date in Westmoreland County

Westmoreland County could be in for a bleak fall if the coronavirus death rate continues its grim increase.

October has been the deadliest month since the pandemic started in March, according to state figures and county Coroner Ken Bacha. The county’s death toll surpassed 100 on Friday, with 47 of those deaths coming in one month. At least one new death has been reported for 17 straight days. For the month, Westmoreland saw 2,195 positive cases reported.

If the same rate of infection and deaths existed in Allegheny County, which has more than three times the population of Westmoreland, it would have counted 7,683 new cases and 165 deaths last month. Instead, Allegheny saw 3,448 positive cases and 53 deaths.

The situation in Westmoreland County shows the importance of wearing a face covering while out in public and with others, said Dr. Carol Fox, chief medical officer at Excela Health.

“This is true, it’s not a hoax,” she said. “There are individuals in the county that are dying.”

The county has seen a huge jump in the number of new positive cases and resulting deaths during the past month. In August and September combined, 10 people died, according to state figures. The overall percent positive rate hovered around 4.6% for most of August but started increasing through September, hitting 5% at the end of the month.

It has only increased during October, and the county saw a daily record 148 positive cases reported Oct. 15. There has been at least one death every day since, with 19 coming between Tuesday and Saturday alone, according to state figures.

Westmoreland just completed its third-consecutive week in the “substantial” level of community transmission for coronavirus cases, meaning it saw more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents.

Excela Health saw 51% of its total hospitalizations during the pandemic in October, Fox said. Of the total positive cases since March, 43% were identified in October. She attributes the increases to community spread.

“I think people have let their guard down,” she said.

That has led to deadly consequences.

Ravaging nursing homes

Bacha said April had been the county’s deadliest month during the pandemic, with 30 people succumbing to the virus, according to his records — which differ from the state because of how the deaths are reported.

The October deaths he was notified of have occurred either at a personal care facility or in a hospitalized patient who was transferred from such a facility, he said. The top four facilities with deaths in October are Mountain View Senior Living, Westmoreland Manor, Greensburg Care Center and The Rehabilitation and Nursing Center at Greater Pittsburgh, all in Hempfield, Bacha said.

“Westmoreland County has been very impacted by this resurgence of covid-19,” said Dr. Rachel Levine, secretary of the state Department of Health.

Other facilities reported deaths during October, but not at the levels of the other four, Bacha said. Most of those who died in October were elderly and had a pre-existing condition.

An infection control consultant is being brought on at Westmoreland Manor as the 408-bed facility has experienced a coronavirus outbreak since mid-September. The Pennsylvania National Guard helped there with testing.

According to state figures, 126 residents and 41 staff members there have contracted the virus. Ten residents have died.

The Manor outbreak is indicative of a problem similar facilities likely are having, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a Pittsburgh-based infectious disease and critical care physician. With the virus spreading in the community, that means the vulnerable will become susceptible, he said.

In Westmoreland, 33 long-term care facilities have reported virus cases since the pandemic began, according to state figures. Forty-seven people have died and nearly 800 residents and staffers have tested positive.

What is happening in the nursing homes is a result of the increased positive cases in the community, Levine said.

“We know … that the prevalence of covid-19 in these facilities is directly proportional to the prevalence of covid-19 in the communities and counties where they’re located,” she said. “We need to have extra vigilance.”

“What you do, what each individual person and family does, impacts the community,” Levine said. “How the community is impacted will impact those facilities and the vulnerable citizens in those facilities.”

Despite increased traffic this month, Fox said Excela isn’t overrun and has plenty of beds, ventilators and personal protective equipment. Staff members who exhibit any symptom of the virus can’t work until the coronavirus is ruled out, which has resulted in more absenteeism as seasonal colds and flu move in with cooler weather.

“We just can’t take the risk of them working until we know for sure,” she said.

Levine expects to see the positive cases continue to rise locally and throughout the state as the fall resurgence continues. If that does happen, the death toll is almost guaranteed to rise as well.

”Usually there’s a lag but then we see increasing hospitalizations and then, tragically, a time later we start to see an increasing death rate,” she said. “Each of those numbers is a person.”