Allegheny County reports 34 new coronavirus deaths, passes 35,000 cases

Allegheny County on Wednesday reported 34 new coronavirus deaths, a record for a single day, and 727 additional coronavirus cases.

The death toll for the county stands at 619. There have been 105 deaths this month.

The Allegheny County Health Department said the new deaths occurred between Nov. 20 and Tuesday. The ages of the deceased were: one person in their 40s, one in their 50s, four in their 70s, 16 in their 80s and 12 in their 90s.

Nineteen deaths were associated with long-term care facilities.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health puts Allegheny’s death total at 608, a discrepancy usually attributed to different reporting methods.

The new coronavirus cases bring the county’s total to 35,541 since the start of the pandemic in March.

The county has seen an average of 861 new cases per day over the past seven days while adding 6,026 new cases in that time. Both figures have been climbing since the start of the month and are again record highs.

Of the 727 new cases Wednesday, the county said that 645 of them were confirmed through 2,009 PCR tests conducted from Nov. 28 to Tuesday. Of the new cases, the department said 82 were probable.

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 four month to 100 years with a median age of 43. The age groups of the newly reported cases — 361 male and 366 female — are:

• 0-4: 6
• 5-12: 34
• 13-18: 26
• 19-24: 74
• 25-49: 286
• 50-64: 181
• 65+: 120

According to the state’s covid-19 tracking website, of the 826 Allegheny County residents in the hospital with the virus, 230 of them are in intensive care units and 124 of them are on ventilators.

As cases continue to rise, Western Pennsylvania officials and businesses say they expect an announcement from the state soon, detailing new pandemic restrictions for businesses and gatherings.

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen are scheduled to have their weekly news conference at 4 p.m. Wednesday.