• Allegheny health director sees “foundation for a surge” in COVID-19,

Allegheny County’s health director said she is seeing a “foundation for a surge” as new COVID-19 cases again topped 400 on Wednesday.

The county’s 418 new cases continues a pattern of higher case counts that began in mid-March. With the county’s recent rise, Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said at a news conference Wednesday that the area is “back to where we were mid-January.”

“Case counts in Allegheny County continued to increase this week,” she said. “We have the foundation for a surge.”

Through contact tracing, the Health Department has determined there is a large amount of community spread of the virus from a variety of sources, including people gathering in groups large and small. Wednesday’s newly reported cases range in age from 10 months to 94 years old, with a median age of 35.

Pennsylvania on Wednesday reported 4,557 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total to 1,024,857. The state Health Department also reported an additional 44 deaths, bringing

Pennsylvania’s death toll to 25,093.

Allegheny County accounted for 10 of the state’s new virus-related deaths. Since the pandemic began, 1,772 people have died as a result of the virus in the county.

The deaths occurred between Dec. 1 and March 29, seven of which occurred during the month of March, the Health Department said.

Three of the deaths were associated with long-term care facilities.

The deaths occurred among three people in the age group 50 to 69 and seven between the ages of 70 and 99.

The state Health Department reported Pennsylvania’s percent positivity increased to 7.6% during the week of March 19 to March 25. The week prior, the percent positivity had been 6.5%.

The county has a slightly lower percent positivity, sitting at 6.9%, according to the county’s dashboard.

The state currently has 1,980 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, 218 of which are in Allegheny County, according to data from the state.

While these numbers are lower than the state’s peak in December, the health department noted that “the moving average of the number of hospitalized patients has started to increase.”

Allegheny County’s hospitalization rate began to increase near the end of February, Dr. Bogen said.

As of Wednesday, the state has given about 5.1 million doses of the vaccine, of which about 1.7 million were second doses.

In Allegheny County, about 70% of the population 65 and older has received at least one dose of the vaccine while about 40% of people within the age group 50 to 64 has received one dose, according to the Health Department.

The Health Department has also been doing what it called a “soft launch” of a new registration system. The Health Department has been using it internally and is expected to release it to the public soon.

The new system will allow residents to sign up and be notified when they are eligible for a vaccine and then when there are appointments available to schedule.

The Health Department has also launched a new campaign called TruthNotCOVID. The campaign will contain a website and social media accounts that will regularly post information to “carry the messages about COVID-19 safety measures, the need for testing, and the availability and benefits of the vaccine.”

The Health Department also worked with various community leaders to create the messaging for the campaign.