Allegheny County reports 13 more coronavirus cases, 13 more deaths

As Allegheny County prepares to enter the least restrictive phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s reopening plan, county health department officials reported 13 additional covid-19 cases and 13 new deaths Thursday.

The county enters the green phase of the state’s reopening plan Friday.

That leaves the total number of deaths countywide at 165, while the total number of confirmed and probable cases rose to 1,965, according to the county. The first cases were reported in Allegheny County on March 14.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health was reporting 166 deaths in Allegheny County as of Thursday. The county had said recently that it was reporting fewer deaths than the state because it did not have access to one of the state’s reporting systems.

Two more patients were hospitalized since Wednesday, bringing the total hospitalizations to 347. Of those hospitalizations, 68 patients have needed ventilation, according to the data.

The system by which state data was reported to the county changed over the weekend, and it caused antibody tests that were previously excluded from the total number of tests administered to be included in the count, officials said.

Those tests, about 2,500, were removed from the total count Wednesday afternoon. Of the new deaths, all but one appear to be linked to long-term care facilities.

The ages range from 57 to 90 with the median age of those who have died being 75.

The dates of death range from May 8 to May 25. Twelve are classified as confirmed deaths from covid-19 and one is classified as a probable death from covid-19.

More than 36,000 covid-19 tests have been administered in Allegheny County.