Allegheny County Reports 796 New COVID-19 Cases For Past 48 Hours

Pittsburgh PA

19 January, 2021

3:50 PM

Description

By PublicSource reporters, Public Source 2021-01-18 The Allegheny County Health Department confirmed a two-day increase of 796 new cases as well as four new deaths Monday. The cases, dated Dec. 28 to Jan. 17, came from individuals four months old to 98 years old, with a median age of 41. The cases, dated Dec. 28 to Jan. 17, came from individuals four months old to 98 years old, with a median age of 41. The deaths, from Dec. 22 to Jan. 15, occurred in two people in their 70s, one person in their 80s and one person in their 90s. To date, ACHD has confirmed 64,680 cases, 1,225 deaths from the virus and 3,803 past and present hospitalizations. The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed 6,023 new COVID-19 cases reported Sunday and 4,045 new cases reported Monday, bringing the statewide total to 771,845 cases. The department also confirmed 122 deaths as of Sunday and 80 new deaths as of Monday, bringing the total death toll across the state to 19,390. Nursing and personal care home residents and staff represent about 9.2% of the state's total caseload and about 52% of the state's total deaths. Healthcare workers represent about 2.8% of the state's total cases. At least 457,347 doses of vaccine have been administered in Pennsylvania, and at least 63,790 people have been fully vaccinated. The state does not yet know how many vaccine doses have been administered at skilled nursing facilities through the federal government's partnership with CVS. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Gov. Tom Wolf encouraged Pennsylvanians to volunteer, an activity especially important in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. "Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life reminds of the importance of finding ways to be of service to one another, and that reminder rings especially true as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause many of our neighbors – many for the very first time – to struggle to make ends meet or put food on the table," Wolf said in a Monday press release. *** The Pennsylvania Department of State announced Thursday, Jan. 14, that pharmacies in the state will be allowed to administer the COVID-19 vaccine when vaccines from the federal government are widely available to the public. In an attempt to make vaccines more accessible, Gov. Tom Wolf issued a temporary waiver allowing pharmacists licensed by the Department of State to order and administer COVID-19 vaccines without a physician's order. Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said that pharmacists and pharmacies will play a critical role in the accessibility of the COVID-19 vaccine. "Many Pennsylvanians will go to their local pharmacy for vaccination. This waiver will enable pharmacies to offer the COVID-19 vaccines without a physician's order," Boockvar said. Pennsylvania pharmacists who meet certain requirements can obtain authorization to administer injectable medications, biologicals and immunizations. If a pharmacist has that authorization, he or she can administer any immunization, including COVID-19 immunizations, to any person 18 years of age or older. Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said the Wolf administration is making every effort to ensure safe access to the COVID-19 vaccine. "We are working on ways to increase access to the vaccine, and pharmacists already play an important role in making sure Pennsylvanians are protected," Levine said. *** Responding to widespread perceptions that vaccines are lying unused, ACHD Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen said Wednesday that more vaccine doses are being administered locally than have been counted. "I know one of the concerns is that according to the state, only about 30,000 doses have been administered in the county, but this is certainly a significant underestimate," Bogen said. "There have been some challenges in uploading data to the state immunization information system, which we are working on with the state to address." About 115,000 vaccine doses have been distributed to Allegheny County, Bogen said. In the county, 32,187 partial doses and 4,993 full doses of the vaccine have been administered, according to the state's online vaccine dashboard. ACHD administered 2,266 of these doses itself. Bogen said one of the challenges in rolling out the vaccine is that the county gets no more than a week's notice of how many vaccine doses will arrive. "Knowing when more vaccine is coming down the pike would be helpful," Bogen said. "And I know that's a challenge both at the federal level and the state level, but certainly … when we have that information, and we have some knowledge of what's coming in three, four, five, 10 weeks, that would be helpful, but it's not available at this time." County-specific information and a statewide map are available on the COVID-19 Data Dashboard. Following the year-end expiration of the Regional Response Health Collaborative [RRHC], a federally funded program that aided long-term care facilities, Pennsylvania will have to scale back assistance due to a lack of federal funds. "The Wolf administration is committed to support long-term care facilities as much as we're able, but we cannot do that in a more comprehensive way without further support from the federal government," Department of Human Services [DHS] Secretary Teresa Miller said during a press briefing Wednesday. Lack of support from the federal government means there will be a decrease in the "duration" and "volume" of support, according to DHS Special Advisor Keara Klinepeter. For example, a facility previously could call in crisis support for about two weeks when needed. Now, this support will only be available for about three to five days, with some wiggle room for "specific circumstances," according to Klinepeter. "A more limited program was not our preferred outcome," Miller said. "We've spoken openly many times about our need for continued federal support." Wolf on Tuesday encouraged all Pennsylvanians to get the COVID-19 vaccine. "The COVID-19 vaccines are really an important tool in our fight against COVID-19, but they're only going to be effective if Pennsylvanians actually get vaccinated," Wolf said in a Tuesday press briefing. "And we should get vaccinated, because these vaccines are both safe and they're highly effective." Wolf's comments come as misinformation spreads around the country about the vaccine, such as the false claim that it can give you the virus or that it doesn't work. He pointed those concerned about the vaccine to the websites of the Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "If you hear a rumor about COVID-19 from a friend or see something online that concerns you, take a few minutes to verify the information before you get too worried about it," Wolf said. Wolf said he will not receive the vaccine before vulnerable groups such as healthcare workers and nursing home residents. "But when it's my turn, I'm gonna get vaccinated, and I look forward to that day," Wolf said. "I'm going to encourage my family members, and I'm going to encourage everybody in Pennsylvania to do the same thing." Wolf reiterated facts about the vaccine, reminding Pennsylvanians that there's no evidence of it being dangerous and that the two vaccine options are 94% to 95% effective against COVID-19. Dr. Cynthia Chuang of the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center joined Wolf at the briefing and said the vaccine is incredibly effective when compared to other vaccines. Flu vaccines, she said, tend to be 40% to 60% effective. She warned that individuals may experience mild symptoms after receiving a COVID-19 vaccination. She estimated that about 80% who get vaccinated will experience soreness in the arm they receive the shot and about 50% will get other mild symptoms such as drowsiness or headaches. "I can't wait to see [my patients] be offered the vaccine. I have conversations with my patients on a daily basis. They can't wait," Chuang said. "They are anxious, they are asking me very good questions about the vaccine, and they are looking forward to getting it and I'm looking forward to them receiving it." The federal government has thus far distributed 827,300 doses of vaccines to Pennsylvania. Nearly 138,000 new doses will arrive throughout this week, Levine said in a Monday press briefing. Levine said that the department hopes to roll out a "robust" communications plan about the virus that dovetails with a new federal communications strategy led by President-elect Joe Biden's administration. "I think it will be very important for the federal government to have a national communications strategy that emphasizes the safety and the effectiveness of the vaccines," Levine said. Reports of wasted vaccine doses have arisen around the country. Levine said she has not heard of this happening in Pennsylvania and stressed that she wants this to always be avoided. "We don't want any vaccine wasted," Levine said. "If they're going to vaccinate someone in [Phase] 1B as opposed to wasting it, that's absolutely fine. We want to make sure, at the end of the day, that we get vaccines into arms." She warned that it will take several months until every Pennsylvanian has access to the vaccine. "We know that there is significant interest among all Pennsylvanians about when they will be vaccinated," Levine said. "We are working to ensure that everyone who wants access to a COVID-19 vaccine will be able to get it." DOH has 258 case investigators who reach out to COVID-positive individuals younger than 19 and older than 64 to investigate contacts, according to a Tuesday press release. For everyone else who tests positive, DOH sends an online form to complete. DOH uses voicemail, physical letters and text messaging in seeking return phone calls. DOH successfully started within 24 hours a case investigation, a preliminary step before contact tracing begins, concerning 11% of the 51,669 COVID-19 cases from Dec. 27 to Jan. 2. Additionally, DOH successfully started investigations for another 4% within 48 hours. During that same time period, DOH had 1,528 contact tracers. They reached 5,862 contacts. Still, few people who test positive answer questions by phone from case investigators about what sorts of businesses they may have visited. In addition to supplying the state with data about business visits in relation to the transmission of the virus, case investigations serve as the first step for contact tracing. Levine reported Jan. 7 that a confirmed COVID-19 variant case was found in Dauphin County. This COVID-19 variant was first discovered in the UK in December. The individual, who tested positive after known international exposure and a case investigation, had mild symptoms. Contact tracing was conducted to identify other people who came in close contact with the positive case. "Pennsylvania has been preparing for this variant by working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] and has been sending 10 to 35 random samples biweekly to the CDC since November to study sequencing and detect any potential cases for this new COVID-19 variant," Levine said. According to the CDC, coronaviruses can mutate regularly because mutations among viruses are common. The CDC expects that all currently available diagnostic tests will detect the variant as COVID-19 and that vaccines with federal Emergency Use Authorizations will be effective against this variant as well. Levine said public health experts are working to study the virus and understand how this new variant spreads and affects those who are infected. "There is still much to learn about this new variant, so we need to remain vigilant and continue to urge Pennsylvanians to stop the spread by washing their hands, practicing social distancing, avoiding gatherings, downloading COVID Alert PA and answering the call. Stay calm, stay alert and stay safe," Levine said. This article was reported by Annie Siebert, Lauren Davidson, Matt Petras and Punya Bhasin. This article was produced by PublicSource.org, a nonprofit news organization serving the Pittsburgh region. PublicSource tells stories for a better Pittsburgh. Sign up for their free email newsletters at publicsource.org/newsletters.