Allegheny County Reports 620 COVID-19 Cases For Past 48 Hours

Pittsburgh PA

27 January, 2021

10:20 PM

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By PublicSource reporters, Public Source 2021-01-25 On Monday, the Allegheny County Health Department reported 620 new COVID-19 cases and six new deaths in the last 48 hours. The new cases — from positive tests dated Sep. 23 to Jan. 24 — include individuals ranging in age from 10 months old to 97 years old, with a median age of 42. The new cases — from positive tests dated Sep. 23 to Jan. 24 — include individuals ranging in age from 10 months old to 97 years old, with a median age of 42. Among the new deaths, dated Dec. 13 to Jan. 11, one person was in their 50s, two people were in their 80s, and three people were in their 90s. Five deaths were associated with long-term care facilities. To date, Allegheny County Health Department has reported 67,429 cases, 1,269 deaths from the virus and 3,805 past and present hospitalizations. The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed 7,910 new COVID-19 cases and 138 new deaths Monday. Of the new cases, 3,934 cases and 83 new deaths were reported Sunday, and 3,976 cases and 55 new deaths were reported Monday. Since the start of the pandemic, Pennsylvania has reported 807,867 cases and 20,664 deaths. Nursing and personal care home residents and employees represent about 9.1% of the state's cases and approximately 50% of the state's deaths. Healthcare workers represent about 2.8% of the state's cases. Through Jan. 25, at least 680,219 vaccine doses have been administered in Pennsylvania.There are 451,467 people who have received one dose of the vaccine and 114,376 people who have received both doses of the vaccine. Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday nominated Alison Beam to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and named Dr. Wendy Braund as an interim acting physician general. "Alison Beam is a talented public servant who brings years of experience in health care policy and implementation to this position," Wolf said in a press release. "Alison knows that a strong, widely available, and successful vaccination strategy is the path out of the pains of this pandemic. Her foremost and immediate focus will be on the strategic distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, making sure Pennsylvania receives as many doses as possible from the federal government, and that the Pennsylvania Department of Health coordinates with hospitals, health centers, county and local governments, and pharmacy partners to make this vaccine as widely available as possible to Pennsylvanians everywhere." Beam will assume the role of acting secretary on Jan. 23, replacing outgoing Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, who was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as assistant secretary of health of the federal Department of Health and Human Services. The governor also named Braund as interim acting physician general to replace Levine. "Wendy brings years of public health expertise and a commitment to improving public health practice in Pennsylvania to the role of Interim Acting Physician General," Wolf said. "Wendy has been an integral part of our COVID-19 pandemic response efforts, and that experience will be an asset in this role." Pennsylvania's seven-day case increase and percent positivity from testing dropped this week. The state reported 31,140 new cases over seven days, down from 40,088 in the prior week. The percent positivity is down from 12.7% to 10.5%. While most counties are still reporting a substantial level of transmission, Cameron County is moving into the low level of transmission status. "After six straight weeks of all 67 counties reporting in the substantial level of transmission, we now have one county moving into the low level of transmission category – a great sign of progress," Wolf said in a Monday press release. "But there is still more work for us to do and we must not become complacent. I believe we can keep up these best public health practices to continue to bring the transmission of COVID-19 down in our communities, keep each other safe, and move forward with rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine." Every county in the state has a concerning percent positivity above 5 percent. This includes two counties with percent positivity at or above 20 percent, which is a decrease of two counties from the week before. The state provided an update on contact tracing in the past week in a Monday press release. Within 24 hours of receiving a positive report, 8,407 cases out of the 46,708 COVID-19 cases reported had a case investigation started, according to the release. An additional 5%, or 2,335 cases, had a case investigation started within 48 hours. Public health professionals successfully contacted 6,539 people, 14% of cases for the week. In addition to the case investigations and contact tracing process conducted by public health officials, there have been 1,032 cases that confirmed their positivity and uploaded their random IDs through the state's COVID-19 app. These uploads generated 529 exposure alerts users of the app who were in close contact to the case. Of that group, 70 individuals requested a call back for further assistance from a contact tracer. In total, there were 7,351 individuals, roughly 16% of cases, who successfully completed a case investigation for the week. The state health department announced Friday that individuals 65 and older will be able to receive vaccinations at a Monroeville clinic starting Monday. The COVID-19 Vaccine Point of Dispensing (POD) inside the DoubleTree Hotel in Monroeville will be open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. by appointment only. More information is available here. On Wednesday, ACHD Director Debra Bogen said the county was not yet equipped with enough vaccine doses to more broadly vaccinate the people newly added by the state to inoculation plan's Group 1A. "I would love to tell you that we could vaccinate all of you who now meet these expanded criteria today, but the reality is that the current vaccine supply makes this unachievable at this time," Bogen said in a press briefing. Bogen explained that in the past two weeks, Pennsylvania distributed 200,000 vaccine doses per week. Allegheny County received fewer than 20,000 of these per week. "Until the vaccine supply greatly expands, all those in Phase 1, please be patient," she said. The problem lies squarely with a lack of vaccine doses; the county has plenty of providers for administering the vaccine. "And judging by the number of calls, messages and emails over the last 24 hours alone, there won't be a shortage of people who want those vaccines," Bogen said. "Which is great." Phase 1B of the vaccination plan previously included individuals 75 and older and those with serious health conditions. But now, Phase 1A has been expanded to include those 65 and older as well as individuals with serious health conditions. As a result, anyone still classified as being in Phase 1B of the vaccine rollout will have to wait longer, according to Bogen. Individuals still in Phase 1B include grocery, education, transit and U.S. Postal Service workers. Despite the current state of the vaccine rollout, the transmission of the virus appears to have decreased in severity in Allegheny County. In the last week, the seven-day rolling average of cases fell from 475 to 396 and the test positivity rate fell from 11.5% to 9.3%, according to Bogen. Hospitalizations and deaths have also decreased. "I really think that the mitigation orders had an impact," Bogen said. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto joined nearly 300 other mayors around the country in writing a letter urging Congress to support Biden's COVID-19 relief bill, which includes $350 billion of direct aid to state and local governments. The mayors wrote in the letter that local governments have not received enough assistance from the federal government throughout the pandemic. "The lack of adequate support has resulted in budget cuts, service reductions, and job losses," the mayors wrote. "Sadly, nearly one million local government jobs have already been lost during the pandemic. Our essential workers deserve federal relief like any other sector." The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry announced that payments for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program in the new federal CARES Act extension are resuming. Department of Labor & Industry Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier said the department is aware of the many Pennsylvanians who are dependent on these benefits and they are working quickly to process these payments. "We know that more than 400,000 Pennsylvanians and their families are relying on these Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits to get through this terrible pandemic and have worked as quickly as possible to complete the implementation and resume payments," Berrier said. Some extensions to the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program have included benefits to workers who lost their job during COVID-19 and are not typically eligible for unemployment compensation programs. These included gig workers, freelancers and self-employed workers. Pennsylvania residents can begin filing for the additional 11 claim weeks immediately. Residents must file these claims by Jan. 29 and are able to file claims for the weeks of Jan. 2, Jan. 9, Jan. 16, and Jan. 23. People who have questions about their enrollment in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program should email [email protected]. The Pennsylvania DOH has struggled to get individuals who test positive to answer calls from the state and engage in a case investigation, but it appears more answered the calls in early January. About 15% of the 58,892 people who tested positive from Jan. 3 to Jan. 9 completed case investigations. While far from the majority, this represents a big increase from past weeks, when fewer than 10% would tell case investigators about their business visits. "This week we are seeing an increase in cases, but also in the number of people who are successfully [answering] the call and completing their case investigation, which is encouraging," Levine said in a Wednesday press release. "I want to thank those who have answered the call when a public health professional has called – you have made a difference and helped identify and inform people who were in close contact in order to keep more people safe, healthy and monitored in case they experience symptoms and need further assistance." This comes after a series of changes to the case investigation process. The DOH initially called residents who tested positive and performed case investigations over the phone, a process that takes 30 to 60 minutes. During the fall resurgence of the virus, cases increased so quickly that contacting everyone became difficult. The department then switched to a brief phone call followed up with an email linking to an online form to reduce time spent on case investigations. However, the department again changed course, this time merging these strategies. The department now seeks to perform the long-form phone call with those younger than 19 or older than 64 who test positive. It does the short call followed by the email for everyone else. After a case investigation has been completed, contact tracing can begin. From this set of case investigations, contact tracing staffers monitored 4,447 contacts of people who tested positive. Wolf announced Wednesday that thousands of licensed Pennsylvania child care workers at open and operating facilities will receive $600 pandemic-era awards. "For nearly a year, child care professionals have continued to work through a challenging environment, providing a safe and caring setting for our youngest Pennsylvanians as their parents go to work performing essential work through a tumultuous period," Wolf said in a Wednesday press release. "We are incredibly grateful for their commitment to our children and families and their resilience through this time." The Child Care Development Fund and leftover CARES Act funding allocated for child care providers financed these awards. To be eligible, a worker must be employed as of this year at a licensed child care provider, make less than or equal to $70,000 a year, and work at least 20 hours a week. The state estimates about 33,000 employees will receive the $600 awards. Employers apply on behalf of their employees for the awards, which will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Cindy Findley, the deputy secretary of health promotion and disease prevention and head of the COVID-19 vaccine task force, announced Tuesday the expansion of vaccine distribution and changes to the COVID-19 vaccine plan in Pennsylvania. Effective immediately, the Department of Health is expanding phase 1A to include anyone over the age of 65 and people aged 16-64 with serious medical conditions that make them more at risk for severe illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines this group as people who have conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cancer, sickle cell disease and chronic kidney disease. Pregnant women also are included in this group. A full list of these medical conditions is available in version 5 of the interim vaccine plan on the department's website. Findley said that people can determine their eligibility and find out when they may receive the vaccine by taking the eligibility quiz found on the state website. The Department of Health and Human Services announced on Tuesday, Jan. 19, that the state will be partnering with Pennsylvania-based Rite Aid pharmacies to help administer the COVID-19 vaccinations to staff and residents of certain long-term care facilities licensed by the Department of Human Services. The partnership with Rite Aid will begin Jan. 27 and clinics will be established to obtain the vaccine doses at scheduled times. This effort is separate from the Retail Pharmacy Program, which allows for pharmacies licensed by the state to administer the vaccine once the COVID-19 vaccines become widely available to the public. Under this partnership with Rite Aid, an estimated 6,000 personal care homes and assisted living facilities will be covered, and it will be a multi-week effort to coordinate vaccination of all facilities based on the vaccine supply available to Pennsylvania. This article was reported by Annie Siebert, Lauren Davidson, Matt Petras, Punya Bhasin and Danielle Cruz. 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.