Allegheny County reports no new COVID-19 deaths

Allegheny County reported no new deaths and 29 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, according to data announced during Allegheny County’s weekly news conference.

With the new data, Allegheny County’s death toll from the coronavirus stands at 144 people. However, the state health department is reporting 147 deaths, up three from Tuesday. The state is reporting 21 deaths at the Kane Glen Hazel nursing facility, whereas the county is still reporting 18.

Although a “technical issue” with the state’s PANEDSS reporting system caused delays in the release of statewide figures, by 7 p.m., the state’s website had been mostly updated. Pennsylvania saw 746 new cases of COVID-19, the 10th straight day under 1,000, bringing the total to 64,412. The death toll rose by 143 to 4,767.

Since the county’s first case of COVID-19 was reported on March 14, Allegheny has had 1,687 cases — 1,594 confirmed and 93 probable. A case is probable “when the person displays symptoms of COVID-19 and has had close contact with a confirmed positive case but has not had a positive test themselves,” according to the county. Of the deaths, 133 are confirmed and 11 are probable.

Allegheny County has administered at least 24,366 tests. County health department Director Dr. Debra Bogen has said that the county has the capacity to administer roughly 2,000 tests per day. As of Wednesday, 310 people have been hospitalized because of the highly infectious disease.

Across Western Pa., 55 new cases were reported. All but 10 were in Allegheny and Erie counties; the latter reported 16 new cases. No new deaths were reported in Western Pennsylvania outside of Allegheny County.

County Executive Rich Fitzgerald on Wednesday expressed some optimism regarding the county’s performance since moving to the yellow phase of reopening on Friday.

“Thus far, our numbers continue to remain good on new cases, hospitalizations [and] fatalities,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. Dr. Bogen cautioned that it is too soon to tell if Allegheny will see additional cases due to reopening.

The county executive also said that he believes the state is considering moving certain businesses, including hair salons, barber shops, gyms and restaurants with outdoor seating into the yellow phase.

“I think, at this point, it’s probably time for the state to really consider moving these businesses, [which] have very, very sound plans and ways they can keep the physical distancing of both their employees and their customers,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “My sense is that the state is considering that.”

He said that though he is unable to give a specific timeline, he estimated “the next few weeks” would see a relaxing of these restrictions.

State Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine has pushed back on calls to reopen businesses like massage parlors and hair salons in particular, calling it “impossible” to practice social distancing and operate those businesses.

Dr. Bogen and Mr. Fitzgerald both cautioned residents to continue mitigation measures, including wearing masks and avoiding large gatherings, over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

Dr. Levine noted Tuesday that the “curve” of daily reported deaths would likely follow the cases curve because of the incubation period of the virus. All deaths as of Tuesday had been in adult patients, but Dr. Levine said that there had been one “pediatric death” in Pennsylvania of a non-Pennsylvania resident.

On Monday, the state changed how it is reporting deaths from COVID-19. Dr. Levine said that Pennsylvania has made a switch from the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS) to the Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS), which brings it into alignment with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, counties are still using the PA-NEDSS system for their own data gathering.

Nate Wardle, a state health department spokesman, said a “technical issue” was responsible for the issues in providing the daily figures and that the problem had been resolved sometime Wednesday afternoon.

The state also has begun providing more information on the cases and deaths occurring inside individual nursing homes and longterm care homes in each county. That list is being made available as a spreadsheet by the state health department. The spreadsheet can be accessed at the following URL address: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/Documents/Diseases%20and%20Conditions/COVID19%20LTCF%20Data_5-1920.xlsx. You will be prompted to download the file.

Here are the positive cases reported Wednesday across Western Pennsylvania.

• Allegheny: 1,687 (up 29 from Tuesday)

• Armstrong: 58 (no change)

• Beaver: 539 (up 5)

• Butler: 208 (up 2)

• Cambria: 54 (no change)

• Clarion: 25 (up 1)

• Clearfield: 33 (no change)

• Crawford: 21 (no change)

• Erie: 163 (up 16)

• Fayette: 93 (no change)

• Forest: 7 (no change)

• Greene: 27 (no change)

• Indiana: 86 (no change)

• Jefferson: 7 (no change)

• Lawrence: 73 (no change)

• Mercer: 96 (no change)

• Somerset: 37 (up 1)

• Venango: 8 (no change)

• Washington: 130 (no change)

• Westmoreland: 432 (up 1) Here are the number of deaths reported recently across Western Pennsylvania:

• Allegheny: 144 (no change from Tuesday). The state is reporting 147 deaths, up 3 from Tuesday.

• Armstrong: 2 (no change)

• Beaver: 70 (no change)

• Butler: 12 (no change)

• Cambria: 2 (no change)

• Clarion: 2 (no change)

• Erie: 4 (no change)

• Fayette: 4 (no change)

• Greene: 0 (no change)

• Indiana: 4 (no change)

• Lawrence: 8 (no change)

• Mercer: 4 (no change)

• Somerset: 0 (no change)

• Washington: 5 (no change)

• Westmoreland: 38 (no change)

Westmoreland County’s fatality data is based on the state’s report. The county coroner’s website continues to list 32 victims — 17 females and 15 males. All were white, the office noted.

Mr. Wardle said data for long-term care living facilities would be updated Thursday.

For additional information on Allegheny County data, visit the county’s COVID-19 Dashboard. More information on statewide results can be found on the Department of Health website.