Lab's 3-month data delay leads to abnormally high daily covid total in Allegheny County

On paper, Allegheny County on Wednesday recorded its second-highest total of newly reported coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, according to state Department of Health data.

In reality, the county’s daily new case total was largely in line with what it has reported since the region emerged from the winter surge in January, the county health department said.

A Western Pennsylvania lab reported three months’ worth of covid test results in one day, accounting for the large discrepancy in the health departments’ daily case totals, Allegheny County said.

Pennsylvania Department of Health data Wednesday showed 1,321 additional covid cases in Allegheny County, bringing the county’s total to 92,385. The Allegheny County Health Department’s daily report showed 382 new covid cases, with 229 confirmed and 153 probable.

“GS Lab, with locations on McKnight Road and in Upper St. Clair, has been conducting testing since January, but did not report test results into the state system until (Tuesday). A total of 1,101 positive antigen test results were reported, of which 939 were of county residents,” the county health department wrote in an email.

State department of health spokeswoman Maggi Barton acknowledged the lab’s data delay resulted in the abnormally high case total in Allegheny County.

“We continue to work with these facilities to ensure case information is reported in a timely manner,” she said.

Allegheny County’s daily report for Wednesday includes only cases reported from other labs and tests from GS Lab from the past week. The county’s dashboard will be updated later with the rest of the data.

Westmoreland County remained above 100 newly reported cases for the eighth time in the past nine days, adding 164 on Wednesday. The county’s total climbed to 31,001. Of those 164 cases, 49 are confirmed and 115 are probable.

In all, the state added 5,730 covid cases as its total grew to 1,087,792. Allegheny County had by far the most additional covid cases in the state — again, thanks to the data dump — followed by Philadelphia (667), Montgomery (317), Bucks (278) and Chester (247).

Washington County added 138 new cases, the most since 197 on Jan. 14. Here’s a look at the rest of the region’s case totals, with change from Tuesday:

• Armstrong: 5,407 (+15)
• Beaver: 14,003 (+71)
• Butler: 16,049 (+81)
• Fayette: 11,836 (+46)
• Indiana: 5,639 (+22)
• Somerset: 7,200 (+35)

Deaths

The Pa. health department added 50 deaths to the state’s total, which rose to 25,522. The state’s death toll from covid stands at 7,676 so far for 2021.

Of those 50 deaths newly reported Wednesday, 46 are from April and four are from March.

Allegheny County’s health department reported 14 deaths, with dates of death ranging from Feb. 22 to April 11. Three of the deaths are associated with long-term care facilities. The county’s total climbed to 1,828. The state’s death total for Allegheny County rose by seven to 1,860, with one from March and six from April. The discrepancy between the two health departments has been attributed to different reporting methods.

Westmoreland County added three deaths to bring its total to 718. Elsewhere in the region, Butler accounted for three deaths, with Washington seeing two and Armstrong adding one.

Hospitalizations

Covid hospitalizations rose in the state for the fifth straight day, growing by 39 to 2,580. There are currently 542 covid patients in ICUs and 262 on ventilators.

Allegheny County saw a decline of 12 covid hospitalizations to 287, with 78 in the ICU and 29 on ventilators. The county’s 14-day average for hospitalizations climbed to 266, the highest since Feb. 14.

In Westmoreland County, covid hospitalizations ticked up by two to 64, with 12 covid patients in the ICU and five requiring ventilators.

Vaccinations

Allegheny County neared 300,000 residents being fully vaccinated, according to state health department data. In all, there are 290,236 people fully vaccinated in the county, with another 230,172 partially vaccinated. That puts the county at almost 24% fully vaccinated.

Westmoreland County’s totals climbed to 77,115 fully and 52,539 partially vaccinated.

In Pennsylvania, 2,488,948 people have been fully vaccinated, according to the state’s vaccine dashboard. That doesn’t include people who received a vaccination from a clinic in Philadelphia, a federal facility or another state.