Allegheny County reports 135 new covid deaths, points to state backlog for large increase

Allegheny County on Thursday reported 135 new coronavirus deaths, the highest number of deaths reported on a single day since the pandemic began last spring. The previous highest number was 74 deaths reported on Jan. 13.

The county said in a release that a backlog at the state resulted in the large number of deaths reported.

The newly added deaths bring the total number for the county to 1,412. The county and state have had different figures for deaths in the county for much of the past year. The Pennsylvania Department of Health puts Allegheny’s death total at 1,485. No reason is given for the difference.

The health department said that the dates of death ranged from Dec. 16 to Sunday, with four deaths from December.

Of the new deaths reported: one person was in their 40s; three people in their 50s; 11 people in their 60s; 29 people in their 70s; 46 people in their 80s; 40 people in their 90s; and five people over 100 years old.

Seventy deaths were associated with long-term care facilities, according to the department.

“These deaths are a painful reminder of the toll covid-19 is having on our community. I express my sympathies and condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one during this pandemic,” said Dr. Debra Bogen, the Allegheny County Health Department director, in a release.

The county also added 358 new coronavirus cases, bringing the county’s total to 68,445.

The county’s seven-day average is 349 cases and the seven-day total cases is 2,443. Both these figures have dropped significantly during the month. On Jan. 1, the seven-day average was 579 cases and seven-day total cases was 4,055.

Of the new cases, the county said that 259 of them were confirmed through 1,452 new PCR tests conducted from Nov. 5 to Wednesday , and 99 were probable. Four positive tests are more than a week old with one positive test from November.

The state Department of Health defines a probable case as one in which a patient has “a positive serology (antibody) test and either covid-19 symptoms or a high-risk exposure” to someone who has been confirmed to have coronavirus.

New cases range in age from 1 to 97 years with a median age of 37. The age groups of the newly reported cases — 175 male and 183 female — are:

• 0-4: 6
• 5-12: 19
• 13-18: 28
• 19-24: 45
• 25-49: 129
• 50-64: 73
• 65+: 58

According to the state’s covid-19 dashboard, 325 Allegheny County residents are hospitalized for covid, 96 of them are in intensive care units and 32 of them are on ventilators.

Vaccines continue to be running in short supply, while demand is high. On Wednesday Bogen estimated that about a third of the county’s population is now eligible – but there are not enough doses to go around.

The county is working to streamline the registration process, but officials still hope the federal government will reorganize vaccine rollout and streamline vaccine manufacturing and distribution.

Bogen also said that Allegheny County’s current covid-19 levels are “encouraging.”