Allegheny County Reports 594 New COVID Cases In 48 Hours, Warns 'A Decrease' Is Due To 'Limited Availability Of Testing'

Pittsburgh PA

30 December, 2020

4:49 PM

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Public Source By PublicSource reporters | December 28, 2020 The Allegheny County Health Department [ACHD] confirmed on Monday 594 new cases and four new deaths reported in the past 48 hours. ACHD does not believe this relatively low case count indicates a decrease in the transmission of the virus. Instead, the department attributes it to "limited availability of testing last week," according to a Monday press release. The new cases, from Dec. 18 to Dec. 27, came from individuals whose age is between one month old to 98 years old, with a median age of 45. Among three people who died during the same time period, two were in their 70s and one person in their 90s. On Saturday ACHD reported 1,209 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths over the past 48 hours, which included the Christmas holiday. Vaccination & mitigation efforts in PA The partnership between the federal government, CVS and Walgreens intended to provide vaccinations for residents and employees of long-term care facilities has officially kicked off in Pennsylvania and other states Monday, according to Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine. During this first week, CVS will be administering vaccinations at 120 skilled nursing facilities across Pennsylvania and Walgreens will administer vaccines at six skilled nursing homes statewide. In the future, this partnership will serve other facilities like assisted living facilities and personal care homes. So far Pennsylvania hospitals have vaccinated 72,762 healthcare workers with the first dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. As decided by the federal government, this week, 58 Pennsylvania hospitals will receive an additional 47,775 Pfizer vaccine doses and 26,100 Moderna doses. "This vaccination process will take some time, and it's particularly dependent upon how much vaccine we receive each week from the federal government," Levine said in a livestream Monday. "In the meantime, our mitigation efforts are more important than ever." Across Pennsylvania 5,905 people are hospitalized due to COVID-19, about 19% of whom are in intensive care units, , as of 7 a.m. Monday. Additionally, 747 people are using a ventilator. The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed 3,779 new COVID-19 cases and 76 new deaths reported Monday as well as 4,884 cases and 127 new deaths reported Sunday. To date, the Pennsylvania DOH has reported 613,804 cases and 15,086 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Nursing and personal care home residents and employees represent about 9.9% of the state's total caseload and about 56% of the state's total deaths. Healthcare workers represent about 3% of statewide cases. Statewide percent positivity of COVID-19 tests from Dec. 18 to 25 was 15.1%, according to Levine, which is a slight, 0.7% decrease from the previous week. The same week, the state reported 46,777 new cases, more than 10,000 fewer cases than the previous week's new caseload. Individuals ages five to 18 represent about 28% of these new cases. Still, few who test positive respond to case investigators' questions about businesses they've visited. Only 4.6 percent provided an answer between Dec. 13 and 19 - of that group of 2,952 respondents, about 9.3% said they had visited a business, such as a restaurant, salon or gym. Contact tracers monitored 8,747 contacts of individuals who tested positive from Dec. 13 to Dec. 19. Additionally, recent daily caseloads have been smaller than the bulk of December, data points that have been difficult to interpret with certainty. Similar to officials in Allegheny County, Levine noted that there was likely not much testing performed in the last week because of the holidays and weekend. Still, there does appear to be a slight calming of the virus's transmission in Pennsylvania, something Levine chalked up to the last round of mitigation orders as well as national and regional trends of the virus. "We have been seeing that plateau and slight decrease. Those are very positive findings," Levine said. "But we are concerned we could see an increase again in January if people do not stay the course." Since Tuesday, the federal government has distributed 127,755 vaccine doses across 109 hospitals in Pennsylvania. As of Saturday, 66,350 of these vaccine doses had been administered. DOH Director of Testing and Contact Tracing Michael Huff said during a press conference Tuesday that he expects testing to become more readily available in the future, with additional sites and more widespread rapid testing. Huff also said the state is working "very closely" with a vendor that is creating an at-home test. "I would suggest to you that probably in the next two months, you're going to see some of these kits at the drugstores and other areas. And in the next three to six months, I think they'll be readily available." On Dec. 17, the FDA granted emergency use authorization for the first at-home testing kit. When asked why Pennsylvania has less rapid testing available than some other states, Huff said the state uses PCR tests instead of rapid antigen tests because they are more accurate. "More often than not, you're doing a rapid antigen test, and you may have to follow it up with a PCR test, which again, delays the results even more and creates some confusion." New statewide restrictions On Dec. 10, the governor announced new restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19, including the suspension of indoor dining, extracurricular activities at schools, and indoor activities at casinos, theaters and similar venues. Retail is limited to 50% of indoor capacity. The new restrictions took effect Dec. 12 and will run until Jan. 4 at 8 a.m. In announcing the new restrictions, Wolf noted the rising death toll from the pandemic and concern for hospital capacity. "The problem we're all facing is this virus continues to rage in Pennsylvania, and over the past several weeks it has become clear that we need to take further mitigation actions to protect Pennsylvanians and stop the spread of COVID-19," Wolf said during a press conference. "We all hoped it would not come to this. The current state of the surge in Pennsylvania, though, will not allow us to wait." In announcing the new restrictions, Wolf acknowledged the dire financial impact the pandemic has had on bars and restaurants, particularly around the holiday season. "It has been crushing, crushing for restaurants and bars," Wolf said. "Unfortunately, [the coronavirus] thrives in places where people gather together." The new restrictions limit in-person gatherings to 10 people. Places of worship are specifically excluded from the order but are urged to comply. Outdoor gatherings are limited to 50 people. 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.