Bogen: Allegheny County has ‘base of a push’

A significant increase in the number of people ignoring mitigation strategies coupled with more cases of covid-19 variants has left Allegheny County with a ‘base for an outbreak’, said Dr Debra Bogen, director of the department. of health.

“We are back to where we were in mid-January,” she said.

During a virtual press briefing on Wednesday, Bogen said the county’s test positivity rate rose from 6% last week to 7.7% and recorded an average of more than 400 new infections a day last week. . The hospitalization rate has also increased since late February – about 100 per week, Bogen said.

Investigations of the cases show that transmission occurs at gatherings large and small, said Bogen, often without a mask.

The outbreaks have been linked to high school and college sports, large and small events, and workplaces.

Bogen said an outbreak occurred after a big party attended by children outside of school, in which there was no social distancing or wearing of masks. A primary school had to close as a result. She did not name the school.

“Unless everyone is vaccinated – we’re all working as hard as we can to get there – the only way to calm this pandemic is to all adhere to proven mitigation strategies,” Bogen said.

Still, vaccine distribution is advancing in Allegheny County, Bogen said. Over 70% of county residents aged 65 and over have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Over 40% of residents aged 50 to 64 also received their first dose.

The health department has signed an agreement with a site in McKeesport to distribute the vaccine – adding to existing county sites in Castle Shannon, Ross and the Hill District. The meetings will be open there at the end of next week.

Teghan Simonton is a writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Teghan at 724-226-4680, [email protected] or via Twitter .