Allegheny County reports record 55 new covid deaths

Allegheny County on Thursday reported 55 new coronavirus deaths, a record number that topped the previous high of 34 set on Dec. 9.

The death toll for the county now stands at 743. There have been 229 deaths reported this month.

The Allegheny County Health Department said that the new deaths occurred between Nov. 24 and Wednesday. The ages of the deceased were: one person in their 50s, four in their 60s, 13 in their 70s, 22 in their 80s, 12 in their 90s, and three people were over 100. Thirty-eight deaths were associated with long-term care facilities.

The Health Department included a note of condolence in its release to families of the 55 people that died, saying “Too many families will grieve a loss during these holidays.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Health puts Allegheny’s death total at 767, a discrepancy usually attributed to different reporting methods.

The county also added 850 new coronavirus cases, bringing the county’s total to 43,857 since the start of the pandemic in March.

There has been an average of 1,021 new cases per day over the past seven days and 7,150 new cases in that time. Both figures are down slightly after hitting record highs on Wednesday.

Of the new 850 cases, the county said that 606 of them were confirmed through 1,933 PCR tests conducted from Nov. 18 to Wednesday. Out of the new cases, the department said 244 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 11 months to 97 years with a median age of 45. The age groups of the newly reported cases — 409 male and 441 female — are:

• 0-4: 7
• 5-12: 40
• 13-18: 46
• 19-24: 78
• 25-49: 338
• 50-64: 199
• 65+: 142

According to the state’s covid-19 tracking website, of the 843 Allegheny County residents in the hospital with the virus, 225 of them are in intensive care units and 124 of them are on ventilators.

After stating that the county is seeing a 14.6% positivity in recent tests, officials on Wednesday repeated pleas for residents to adjust their holiday plans, listen to the advice of medical experts and take precautions.

“These numbers continue to be alarming,” Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said.