Allegheny County tops 1,000 coronavirus deaths

Allegheny County on Tuesday reported 29 new coronavirus deaths, bringing the death toll for the county to 1,011.

“Passing 1,000 deaths is a grim milestone that I had hoped Allegheny County would be spared,” Allegheny County Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen said in a release.

“Each of the 1,011 people that have died were loved members of our community. I extend my deepest sympathies to all who have lost loved ones to covid-19.”

The health department said the new deaths occurred between Dec. 5 and Jan. 4. The ages of the deceased were: one person was in their 40s, two in their 60s, six in their 70s, ten in their 80s, and ten in their 90s

Twenty-two deaths were associated with long-term care facilities.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health puts Allegheny’s death total at 1,070. No reason is given for the difference.

Allegheny County has reported more covid deaths than eight U.S. states as well as Washington D.C.

The county also added 565 new coronavirus cases, bringing the county’s total to 56,827 since the start of the pandemic in March. The average of new cases per day over the past seven days is 622, while the county added 4,354 new cases in that time.

Of the new cases reported Tuesday, the county said that 421 were confirmed through 1,696 new PCR tests conducted from Nov. 29 to Jan. 4. Out of the new cases, the department said 144 were probable. Twenty-one positive tests are more than a week old.

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 2 months to 100 years with a median age of 43. The age groups of the newly reported cases — 265 male and 300 female — are:

• 0-4: 7
• 5-12: 16
• 13-18: 32
• 19-24: 60
• 25-49: 222
• 50-64: 118
• 65+: 110

According to the state’s covid-19 tracking website, of the 666 Allegheny County residents in the hospital with the virus, 189 of them are in intensive care units and 74 of them are on ventilators.

As of Jan. 4, the state vaccine dashboard shows that 15,491 doses of the vaccines have been administered to people in the county.