More and more people are getting seriously ill as the upswing in COVID-19 infections that started in March continues.
According to the Allegheny County Health Department, in the week ending on May 25, there were 92 people hospitalized with COVID-19. The previous week it was 76, and the week before, 41 people were in the hospital due to the virus.
Also, last week, four people lost their lives to COVID-19, bringing the total number of Allegheny County residents who died from the virus to 3,269.
This development of increased hospitalizations is not surprising; a rise in severe illness usually lags about a month after there’s an uptick in cases.
Regarding case counts, there were 4,386 new infections reported in the past week by the county health department. The previous week it was 3,732, and the week before saw 2,761 cases. These totals are likely undercounts due to the wide use of at-home testing, though tracking case numbers helps understand the pace of transmission in a community.
Wastewater analysis from the county shows that the majority of COVID-19 infections are caused by the omicron variant. This analysis does not provide subvariant data. However, limited specimen sequencing of test results finds that two omicron subvariants, BA.2 and BA.2.12., account for 61% and 33% of cases respectively.
COVID-19 community level
Allegheny County’s COVID-19 community level is now classified as “high” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The change occurred Thursday and is based on the county’s growing COVID-19 case rate and hospital admissions.
Over the past seven days, Allegheny County’s case rate reached 348.18 per 100,000 people, and its hospital admission rate was 10.5. The CDC’s threshold for a high community level classification is that there must be at least 200 cases per 100,000 and 10 hospitalizations per 100,000.
People in areas with high community levels of COVID-19 are advised to wear masks while indoors or on public transportation.
Beaver, Butler and Westmoreland counties also all have “high” COVID-19 community levels. Washington County is in medium; Fayette and Greene counties are low.
