Beginning Thursday, Allegheny County will monitor businesses — particularly bars and restaurants — to ensure they are in compliance with the latest guidelines and restrictions for combating the coronavirus outbreak.
During a news conference on Wednesday, county Executive Rich Fitzgerald said the businesses will be checked by a 10-person COVID-19 field response team.
The team will complete a checklist at each establishment to monitor if they are following the guidelines put in place by the state and county health departments.
The completed checklist will be left with the restaurant and a copy of it, the name of the establishment and date of the inspection will all be made available on the county’s website.
For bars and restaurants, the health department also will be notified of any violations so that it can do a follow-up inspection. Violators could potentially be shut down.
Also on Wednesday, for the first time in nine days, Allegheny County’s single-day increase of COVID-19 cases fell below triple digits. Despite the decrease in cases, the county said it had eight new deaths as a result of the infection.
The number of cases reported Wednesday was 96. The last time the daily cases count fell below triple digits was July 13, when the county saw an increase of 71 cases.
In Western Pennsylvania, Beaver County saw the second-highest increase with 35 additional people testing positive for the virus.
In addition to Allegheny County’s deaths, three other counties in Western Pennsylvania reported new deaths with one each — Beaver, Mercer and Westmoreland.
Allegheny County’s newly reported cases come from 1,617 tests administered between July 7 and July 21. The positive cases range in age from 1 to 92 years old, with the median age being 37. The total number of cases for Allegheny County is now 6,670.
The eight new deaths are from July 8 to July 19. These recent deaths range in age from 78 to 96 years old, with the median being 81.
This brings the county death toll to 217. The state is reporting 214 deaths for Allegheny County.
Statewide, there was an increase of 25 virus related deaths, bringing Pennsylvania’s death toll to 7,063.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health also reported an additional 631 cases of COVID-19 for Wednesday. There have been 103,396 cases of the virus across the state since the pandemic started in March. According to a release from the state, this case count does not include information from Philadelphia, as the department had not received data from there.
Western Pennsylvania accounts for 235 of the newest cases.
Allegheny County also reported an increase of 16 hospitalizations. According to data released from the state, there are currently 735 people hospitalized due to COVID-19.
Allegheny County Health Department Director, Dr. Debra Bogen announced on Wednesday that even though the county has seen a surge in hospitalizations, hospitals in the area are reporting that at this time, they are not overwhelmed with cases.
State Secretary of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine, released a statement on the current status of contact tracers in the state.
There are currently, 661 contact tracers according to the statement, but depending on the possible resurgence of the virus in the fall, the state is predicting Pennsylvania could need hundreds or thousands in the coming months.
The Department of Health is currently hiring more contact tracers and community health nurses to try to meet that need before the fall.
“As COVID-19 cases increase, we continue our efforts to support, strengthen and expand in order to conquer any potential surge in COVID-19 cases,” Dr. Levine said in the statement. “Without case investigations the proven public heath strategies, like contact tracing efforts and monitoring would not be possible. Contact tracing is critical to identify any instances of community spread and to prevent larger outbreaks to keep Pennsylvania safe from COVID-19.”
Here is the total number of positive cases reported Wednesday in Western Pennsylvania:
• Allegheny: 6,670 (up 96 from Tuesday)
• Armstrong: 129 (up 7)
• Beaver: 1,046 (up 35)
• Butler: 513 (up 5)
• Cambria: 182 (up 1)
• Clarion: 70 (up 1)
• Clearfield: 105 (up 1)
• Crawford: 114 (up 2)
• Erie: 813 (up 8)
• Fayette: 288 (up 9)
• Forest: 7 (no change)
• Greene: 91 (no change)
• Indiana: 185 (up 4)
• Jefferson: 48 (no change)
• Lawrence: 257 (up 14)
• Mercer: 276 (up 17)
• Somerset: 100 (up 3)
• Venango: 53 (no change)
• Washington: 603 (up 11)
• Westmoreland: 1,214 (up 21)
Here is the total number of deaths reported Wednesday in Western Pennsylvania:
• Allegheny: 217 (up 8 from Tuesday. The state is reporting 214.)
• Armstrong: 6 (no change)
• Beaver: 82 (up 1)
• Butler: 14 (no change)
• Cambria: 3 (no change)
• Clarion: 2 (no change)
• Clearfield: 0 (no change)
• Crawford:1 (no change)
• Erie: 13 (no change)
• Fayette: 4 (no change)
• Forest: 0 (no change)
• Greene: 0 (no change)
• Indiana: 6 (no change)
• Jefferson: 1 (no change)
• Lawrence: 9 (no change)
• Mercer: 9 (up 1)
• Somerset: 1 (no change)
• Venango: 0 (no change)
• Washington: 10 (no change)
• Westmoreland: 41 (The Westmoreland County coroner, whose numbers were last updated July 20, is reporting 34)
Here’s a look at demographic data in Allegheny County, based on data reported Wednesday:
Cases by age:
• 0-4: 81 (1%)
• 5-12: 107 (2%)
• 13-18: 234 (3%)
• 19-24: 1,126 (17%)
• 25-49: 2,756 (41%)
• 50-64: 1,248 (19%)
• 65 and over: 1,118 (17%)
Deaths by age group:
• 20-29: 1 (0%)
• 30-39: 1 (0%)
• 40-49: 2 (1%)
• 50-59: 9 (4%)
• 60-69: 26 (12%)
• 70 and over: 178 (82%)
Cases by gender:
• Female: 3,567 (54%)
• Male: 3,103 (46%)
Deaths by gender:
• Female: 128 (59%)
• Male: 89 (41%)
Cases by race:
• White: 3,727 (56%)
• Black: 1,854 (28%)
• Asian: 233 (4%)
• Other: 81 (1%)
• Race unknown: 773 (12%)
Deaths by race:
• White: 168 (77%)
• Black: 44 (20%)
• Asian: 1 (0%)
• Race unknown: 4 (2%)
Nursing and personal care homes
The state has released data — organized by county — about cases and deaths at nursing and personal care homes. Here’s information about Western Pennsylvania, based on Wednesday’s figures, with changes in deaths noted in parentheses:
• Allegheny: 65 facilities, 650 cases among residents, 214 cases among employees, 162 deaths (up 1)
• Armstrong: 5 facilities, 28 cases among residents, 8 cases among employees, 5 deaths (no change)
• Beaver: 7 facilities, 440 cases among residents, 49 cases among employees, 83 deaths (no change)
• Butler: 12 facilities, 20 cases among residents, 15 cases among employees, 2 deaths (no change)
• Cambria: 5 facilities, 15 cases among residents, 5 cases among employees, 0 deaths (no change)
• Clarion: 2 facilities, 10 cases among residents, 4 cases among employees, 0 deaths (no change)
• Clearfield: 3 facilities, 2 cases among residents, 2 cases among employees, 0 deaths (no change)
• Crawford: 2 facilities, 11 cases among residents, 15 cases among employees, 0 deaths (no change)
• Erie: 17 facilities, 64 cases among residents, 62 cases among employees, 10 deaths (no change)
• Fayette: 5 facilities, 9 cases among residents, 6 cases among employees, 1 death (no change)
• Greene: 1 facility, 2 cases among residents, 1 case among employees, 0 deaths (no change)
• Indiana: 9 facilities, 25 cases among residents, 9 cases among employees, 4 deaths (no change)
• Jefferson: 1 facility, 4 cases among residents, 4 case among employees, 0 deaths (no change)
• Lawrence: 5 facilities, 37 cases among residents, 14 cases among employees, 1 death (no change)
• Mercer: 8 facilities, 36 cases among residents, 22 cases among employees, 2 deaths (up 1)
• Somerset: 3 facilities, 2 cases among residents, 1 case among employees, 0 deaths (no change)
• Venango: 1 facility, 5 cases among residents, 0 cases among employees, 0 deaths (no change)
• Washington: 8 facilities, 20 cases among residents, 7 cases among employees, 2 deaths (no change)
• Westmoreland: 20 facilities, 159 cases among residents, 50 cases among employees, 29 deaths (no change)
• Pennsylvania: 797 facilities, 18,846 cases among residents, 3,675 cases among employees, 4,829 deaths (up 20)
For additional information on Allegheny County data, visit the county’s COVID-19 Dashboard. More information on statewide results can be found on the Pennsylvania Health Department’s website.
First Published: July 22, 2020, 3:33 p.m.
Updated: July 22, 2020, 9:01 p.m.
