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Allegheny County officials and medical experts across the county delivered a disastrous, pleading message on Thursday as the number of covid-19 cases continued to rise, with this week’s new number of cases likely to exceed the 2000s.
“This data concerns me and it should be a wake-up call to everyone in our county,” said Dr Debra Bogen, director of the Allegheny County Health Department.
County officials on Thursday announced 412 new cases of covid-19, of which 341 came from testing and 71 were probable. That’s a 19.7% positivity rate.
Bogen said that while no new public health orders are planned at this time, “we will continue to closely monitor the situation in our county and intervene if necessary.
Bogen says there will be no intervention at this time, but that could be depending on where the numbers go and how the cases are investigated pic.twitter.com/GV2nGvPd8M
– Megan Guza (@meganguzaTrib) November 12, 2020
She specifically noted that targeted mitigation efforts in March and later in June effectively halted the sharp rise in the first and second waves of the virus.
“We’re waiting to see what our case investigations show to get us where we’re going,” she said. “I want to wait and be responsive to what’s going on in our community, so here’s a call: we can do it together now, we can control our case numbers if people follow these instructions.
“In the future,” she continued, “we’ll see. I’m not making any predictions.
Bogen said there had been nearly 19,000 diagnoses of covid-19 in the county since March, resulting in nearly 1,600 hospitalizations and 456 deaths.
“It means,” she said, “for every 100 confirmed cases in our county so far, two people have died.”
That number, she says, will increase. She said cases per week had almost tripled in less than a month.
“We will lose more relatives and friends despite the incredible medical care and health care in our county,” she said. “According to national models, if cases continue to increase, hundreds of people will die in our communities in the months to come.
She said that gatherings, even the smallest ones like sleepovers, birthday parties, baby showers and sports banquets, put people at risk. She highlighted an epidemic linked to a wedding attended by 45 people, 18 of whom have now fallen ill. One was hospitalized.
Allegheny County Director Rich Fitzgerald spoke directly to parents, imploring them to prevent their children from attending parties and other gatherings. School and sports are not the problem, he said, but rather when the kids get together after school.
“I know it’s very difficult because I’ve been there when your own child comes and said, ‘Everyone is allowed to go, I don’t want to be the only one – why do you have to be the mean parent ? ‘”he said.” We have to be the safe parent. We have to be the responsible parent. “
He warned students who will be home for the winter vacation, including the famous holiday and reunion time, the day before Thanksgiving. He said young people who contract the virus and have mild symptoms should not assume that is the case for everyone.
“Just because you might have a few days of sniffles and aches and feel better – doesn’t mean your aunt, your uncle, your parents, your grandparents, ”he says. “We really need young people to come together and serve the community.”
To make the problem clear, the county called on representatives from UPMC, Allegheny Health Network, St. Clair Hospital and Heritage Valley Health System to talk about the increase in cases and the way they prepare.
AHN’s Dr Donald Whiting said hospital admissions for covid-19 were on the rise, although he noted that fewer people are critically ill.
“Masking, hand washing, and social distancing, especially over the next three to six months, are critical in helping us keep the economy moving, keep people working, keeping all the activities that we want to do, ”he said. “Everything is under our control at this point.”
Megan Guza is a writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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Allegheny | Coronavirus | Local | Best Stories
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