Allegheny County reports 412 new COVID-19 cases, 4 more deaths

The Allegheny County Health Department on Friday reported one of its highest levels of new COVID-19 cases in the past few weeks — 412 — although 51 were confirmed from tests taken more than a week ago. One test was from all the way back in March.

County health officials said the state Department of Health is addressing the late reporting issue, which also impacted other counties.

The newly reported infections pushed the county’s total to 76,136 cases since the first case was reported in March.

Of the latest cases, 291 were confirmed from 1,520 new PCR tests, and 121 were probable. Most of the tests were taken recently, through Thursday. The newly infected people range in age from 1 month to 98 years with a median age of 38.

Also, health officials reported four new deaths, which occurred from Feb. 3-20. Of the newly reported deaths, two people were in their 60s, one was in their 70s and one was in their 80s. Two of the deaths were associated with a long-term care facility.

To date, there have been 1,658 COVID-19 deaths and 5,099 hospitalizations in the county.

Statewide, there were 3,346 new cases reported Friday, bringing Pennsylvania’s total to 926,336 since the start of the pandemic.

The state Department of Health reported 69 new deaths, for a total of 23,937.

The department said it has allocated 3,172,900 doses of COVID-19 vaccine through Saturday; of those, 2,226,004 doses had been administered as of Thursday.

Acting state Health Secretary Alison Beam announced Friday that Pennsylvanians can now use COVID Alert PA to access vaccine information through an updated version of the app.

“More than 792,000 Pennsylvanians who have downloaded COVID Alert PA have been asking for the ability to access vaccine information through the app so it’s easier for themselves, their family members, and their loved ones to stay upto-date on the vaccine process,” Ms. Beam said in a news release.

The new update of the app includes:

• COVID-19 vaccine resources, like Your Turn eligibility tool, vaccine provider locations, and access to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent i o n ’ s V-Safe health checker.

• The ability to track state and county level COVID-19 vaccine administrations.

• Updated data and privacy policy to address these new changes.