Allegheny County reports fourth COVID-19 death

A fourth person in Allegheny County has died from COVID-19, health officials reported Sunday.

The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the county also rose to 605, up 53 cases from Saturday.

Officials said the age of the latest county death was in the 80s and that the person had been hospitalized. Of the county’s 605 positive cases, 87 people have been hospitalized.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Sunday reported 1,493 new cases of COVID-19, totaling 11,510 cases in the state to date.

The heath department also reported 14 new deaths, bringing the statewide total to 150. There have been 66,261 patients who tested negative for the virus.

Elsewhere in Western Pennsylvania, the state health department reports: Armstrong County 12 cases; Beaver, 84; Butler, 87; Cambria, 7; Clarion, 5; Erie, 19; Fayette, 27; Greene, 12; Indiana, 13; Lawrence, 23; Mercer, 18; Somerset, 4; Washington, 50; and Westmoreland at 147, up 12 from Saturday.

Only two counties in Pennsylvania — Elk and Jefferson — had no reported cases as of Sunday.

According to the Meadville Tribune, Meadville Medical Center in Crawford County reported that a 4year-old boy tested positive for the virus, making him the county’s youngest patient. There are seven confirmed cases in Crawford County.

There have so far been no pediatric deaths related to COVID-19 in Pennsylvania.

Health Secretary Rachel Levine on Sunday signed an order outlining cleaning protocols for the “lifesustaining” businesses that remain open following Gov. Tom Wolf’s March 19 order to close all “non-life-sustaining” businesses.

“Based upon the manner of COVID-19’s spread in the commonwealth and in the world, and its danger to Pennsylvanians, I have determined that the appropriate disease control measure is the direction of building safety measures as outlined in this order to prevent and control the spread of disease,” Dr. Levine wrote in a statement.

The protocols direct building owners to ensure that there are enough employees to effectively clean and disinfect their facilities in accordance with guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Additionally, they direct owners to have security employees to “control access, maintain order and enforce social distancing of at least 6 feet, provided the security employees are otherwise responsible for such enforcement.”

The order went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday, and is directed toward owners of buildings of at least 50,000 square feet used for commercial, industrial or other enterprises.

This includes “warehousing, manufacturing, commercial offices, airports, grocery stores, universities, colleges, government, hotels, and residential buildings with at least 50 units.”

Despite the 53 new cases in Allegheny County, the approximate breakdown of affected persons remained the same as it stood on Saturday.

Persons 25 to 49 represented the largest age group of positive tests at 43%. Those aged 50 to 64 represented 27% of positive tests, while 18% of positives were 65 and older.

Cases in 19- to 24-yearolds made up 9% of the count, and persons aged 13 to 18 made up 1%. The other positive cases were in children younger than 13.

The state had a similar breakdown: 42% of positive tests in persons aged 25 to 49; 29% from age 50 to 64; and nearly 20% age 65 or older.