COVID-19 cases rising in Allegheny County

By KRISTIE LINDEN

klinden@yourmvi.com

The Allegheny County Health Department is concerned after the number of new coronavirus cases doubled over the last two weeks.

The number of new positive tests is still relatively low, considering the number of cases the county saw during the height of the pandemic. Last week there were 134 new cases reported, more than twice as many as the 56 reported the week before.

In a Monday afternoon press conference, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said that while the county has kept the number of new cases low since entering the green phase, he has seen people not wearing masks and not social distancing in the weeks leading up to this increase.

“We want to reiterate that we’ve seen in other parts of the country where they’re not wearing masks or social distancing, that we’ve seen some really high levels of positive testing go up,” he said.

Fitzgerald hopes the numbers will settle back down after a brief increase, but there is real concern.

“We need folks to continue to stay vigilant,” he said. “It’s a very serious issue we all need to work on.”      

Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen said in addition to her concerns over the doubling in case numbers, she wanted to draw attention to the change in who the new cases are affecting.

About 40% of the new cases are in patients ages 25 to 49, 20% of those are between the ages of 19 and 24 and 10% are children. Previously, the majority of cases were among those age 65 and older.

“(Now) it’s those who are out and about,” Bogen said. “We have not seen a cluster of cases from recent events or mass gatherings.”

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