Pa. adds 2,818 COVID-19 cases
WVU announces U.K. virus variant infections
Pennsylvania reported another 2,818 cases of COVID-19 and 90 additional deaths from the disease Saturday as West Virginia University announced three cases of the U.K.variant of the coronavirus.
In Allegheny County, where a mass vaccination clinic at PNC Park drew some 3,500 people, the Health Department reported new 285 cases. That marked at least the fifth consecutive day the county’s tally was fewer than 300.
The county also recorded one additional death from COVID-19: a person in their 90s who died Dec. 17.
Meanwhile, WVU confirmed three cases of the U.K. coronavirus variant in the Morgantown, W.Va., area, two of them in WVU students. Federal health officials expect the variant — which was first identified in the United Kingdom and is considered especially contagious — will become the dominant strain in the U.S. within a few weeks, the university noted.
WVU is working with the Monongalia County Health Department, including on contact tracing, the university said in a statement, adding, “It is believed that the three individuals [infected] are related to one another and have not visited the WVU campus during their infectious period.”
The Allegheny County Health Department announced this month the discovery of a single case of the U.K. variant. As of Wednesday, that remained the only known case of the variant in the county, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only one, county Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen said.
She suspects that variant and perhaps others “have been and are present” in Allegheny County, she said.
“These variants spread more efficiently, so it’s vital that we all wear a well-fitting mask that covers both the nose and mouth,” Dr. Bogen said Wednesday. “Also, we must remember to keep our distance from one another, to avoid large groups, to limit trips out of the house and [to] continue to wash our hands” to prevent virus transmission.
At the PNC Park clinic, Allegheny Health Network vaccinated people 75 and older with high-risk conditions such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and compromised immune systems. Those patients will return March 13 for their second doses.
“It’s been a hell of a day. A good day,” Dr. Imran Qadeer, chief medical officer at Allegheny General Hospital, said with about three hours to go before the clinic was scheduled to end at 6 p.m. Saturday.
He had heard that just one person showed up without the required appointment, he said. AHN’s first vaccination clinic at the stadium was held Feb. 6.
Those patients will return Feb. 27 for their second shots.
“We are looking for even bigger sites, like at the convention center and other sites, where we could do over 10,000 [vaccinations] a day,” Dr. Qadeer said.
Also Saturday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported just more than 1.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered statewide as of Friday. Of those, 1.4 million were first doses. About 510,000 people in Pennsylvania had received two doses of vaccine to complete the
inoculation process.
The figures do not include vaccinations administered in Philadelphia — which operates as its own jurisdiction — or those administered in federal facilities or through CVS and Walgreens as part of a Federal Pharmacy Partnership. Roughly 4 million Pennsylvanians are eligible for COVID-19 shots in the vaccination campaign’s ongoing first phase.
Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 numbered 2,061 statewide Saturday, down from 2,548 a week earlier, according to state data. The statewide positivity rate, or the proportion of COVID-19 tests that come back positive, registered at 6.5% for the seven days that ended Thursday, down from 8% for the prior seven days.
Amongthe newly reported COVID-19 cases Saturday in Allegheny County, 206 are confirmed and 79 are probable. Those newly reported as infected range in age from 11 months to 92 years, with a medianage of 38, according to the county. Three of the positive tests were more than a weekold.
Statewide, Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 death toll reached 23,750 since the pandemic reached the state last March; Alleghney County has logged 1,629 fatalities. Total known cases in the state reached 911,591; known cases in the county stood at 74,602, according to public health reports.