Virus totals low in area towns
By KRISTIE LINDEN
klinden@yourmvi.com
The state Department of Health released the number of coronavirus cases by ZIP code Monday, showing that many Mon Valley towns have low totals.
The ZIP code map is available at www.health.pa.gov.
“If there are a lower number of cases in your ZIP code, it doesn’t mean it’s safe to resume normal activities or to stop social distancing,” DOH Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said Monday.
She also said the department knows that everyone who has coronavirus has not been tested and therefore won’t be represented on the map.
The ZIP code in the Valley with the highest number of cases is 15132, which covers a portion of McKeesport and Versailles. There have been 31 cases of the virus there.
Nine cases have been reported in Charleroi, six in Monessen, five in Finleyville, five in the Monongahela ZIP code and five in the Belle Vernon ZIP code.
In ZIP codes where there have been fewer than five cases reported, the DOH has chosen to redact the actual number of patients and list them as “Redacted (Positive Cases 1-4).”
“Because of low case counts, anything less than five is listed as 1-4 positive case counts to protect the privacy of Pennsylvanians,” Maggi Mumma of the DOH press office said Monday.
In the Mon Valley, the ZIP codes that have between one and four cases of coronavirus are Bentleyville, Brownsville, California, Coal Center, Donora, Eighty Four, Elizabeth, Glassport, Liberty borough, Lincoln borough, the McKeesport ZIP codes of 15135, 15131 and 15133, Port Vue, Roscoe, Smithton, Stockdale, West Newton and White Oak.
There are a number of Mon Valley communities with no reported positive cases of the virus. They are Allenport, Buena Vista, Daisytown, Dravosburg, Dunlevy, Elco, Fayette City, New Eagle and Scenery Hill.
On Monday, the DOH reported 948 new cases of coronavirus — the first time the figure has dipped below 1,000 since it first crossed that level. There have now been 33,232 positive cases of the virus in the state.
There were 92 new deaths, bringing the statewide total to 1,204.
Allegheny County now has 1,042 cases, an increase of seven patients, and five new deaths, bringing that total to 55.
Fayette County has a total of 67 cases, an increase of one, and three deaths, with no increase since before the weekend.
Washington County added one new case for a total of 83 patients, and no new deaths. There have been two fatalities in the county overall.
Westmoreland County has two new cases for a total 286, and according to the DOH, there have been no new deaths and that total remains at 16. However, Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha is reporting a death toll of 24.
Bacha said three of the most recent deaths came from a personal care home where no deaths had been reported. The fourth death happened at a hospital intensive care unit after a person was transported from their home, he said.
Most of the county’s deaths are tied to nursing and personal care facilities. Bacha declined to identify them.
