Allegheny County reports 9 new COVID- 19 deaths

The Allegheny County Health Department is reporting nine new COVID- 19- related deaths and 68 new cases on Wednesday.

Of the new deaths, seven of them are related to long- term care facilities. The deaths occurred between Aug. 20 and Sept. 7 among five people in their 70s, three in their 80s and one person in his or her 90s.

Nearly six months into the pandemic, 358 Allegheny County residents have died as a result of the virus. The latest report of deaths follows a four- day stretch in which the county reported zero deaths.

The state Health Department, which is reporting a lower number for Allegheny County, said there was an increase of 14 new deaths in Pennsylvania. Beaver County reported three new deaths, Butler County reported two, and Fayette County reported one. The state death toll is now 7,805.

The newly reported cases come from 663 tests that were performed

between Aug. 31 and Sept. 8. Those who have recently tested positive range in age from 1 to 97 years old, with a median age of 21.

Among the 68 new cases for Wednesday, the Health Department said that 62 are confirmed cases and six are considered probable cases.

During the week of Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, the number of positive cases who reported to contact tracers that they had visited a bar or restaurant decreased to 31 from 34 during the week of Aug. 23 to Aug. 29.

Other areas that saw a decrease were those who reported playing sports and people attending religious services.

The largest increase over that same period was in people who reported going to a gym or fitness center. Those reports increased from six to 12. Other areas of increase included those attending parties, working at retail or grocery stores and attending weddings or funerals.

In reports from people who traveled out of state, contact tracers found an increase from seven to 11 reports of people visiting Ohio.

Pennsylvania saw an increase of 931 new cases of the virus for Wednesday, bringing the state total to

141,290.

Based on the most recent data from the state Health Department, 514 people across the commonwealth are hospitalized for the respiratory illness — 65 of whom are in Allegheny County.

In total, 1,040 people in the county have been hospitalized as a result of the virus.

At the weekly COVID- 19 briefing Wednesday afternoon, county Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced that Allegheny County would be opening a COVID- 19 testing site in McKeesport.

The site — which will be a drive- thru facility and use self- administered tests — will open Sept. 15. An appointment is required for the free testing services. The facility will be open between 10 a. m. and 4 p. m. Monday through Friday.

“We chose McKeesport, not because there’s an outbreak in McKeesport. We chose McKeesport because the Health Department wanted to make sure testing was available to residents in that area of the county,” Allegheny County Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen said. “We’ve heard that residents in the Mon Valley didn’t feel they had adequate access to testing, and we hope this site addresses that concern.”

Dr. Bogen also announced that the county will be adding a staff of on- call nurses to the resources that residents can access through the United Way’s 2- 1- 1 help line.

The nurses will be available to health care providers, school administrators and parents or guardians who have COVID- 19- related questions. This service is available 8 a. m. to 4 p. m Monday through Friday.

Dr. Bogen emphasized that this new resource is not for specific questions about a child’s health or outbreaks at schools but, rather, for information on general guidelines and practices.

Data from the state Health Department shows that cases in people among ages 19 to 24 have risen. In the Pittsburgh region, cases in that age group have risen from about 5% of the confirmed cases in April to about 27% of cases so far this month.

Dr. Bogen confirmed that there has been a rise in younger people testing positive for COVID- 19 in the county. She did not attribute this increase to any specific cause but did compare it to early July, when the county saw the same pattern among its rise in cases.