The covid-19 positivity rate in Allegheny County has skyrocketed over the past week as the omicron variant spreads, and Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said the fast-spreading variant likely makes up most of the county’s cases at this point.
The seven-day average for positive PCR tests in the county is 26.4%, Bogen said, noting the county has “never seen positivity rates in this range before throughout the pandemic.”
“This is a new high and, of course, very concerning,” she said.
During the week of Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, more than 13,300 cases were reported among county residents, and about 9% were reinfections, according to county data. Forty-one people died from the virus during that time frame.
Bogen said hospitalizations are down from a peak at the end of November and beginning of December, though she noted that hospitalizations often lag a week or two behind cases.
The omicron variant, she said, likely makes up most of the new covid cases at this point.
“Only omicron would really explain the large surge we saw,” she said, noting that an analysis of wastewater in the county also indicates a large uptick in the variant.
Bogen urged continued caution because, although omicron appears to cause less severe illness than other variants, hospital systems still can easily be overwhelmed when cases are exploding as they are now.
For example, she said, if about 20 out of every 1,000 delta variant infections required hospitalization and there were an average of 3,000 cases a week, that would mean an average of 60 hospitalizations per week. If the omicron variant sends only about seven out of every 1,000 infections to the hospital but there are 12,000 cases in a week, that means 84 hospitalizations, she said.
“It is so important to vigilantly adhere to mitigation guidance,” Bogen said.
Bogen urged people to show compassion.
“Regardless of one’s beliefs and vaccination status, we need to continue to look out for each other, protect each other and be good neighbors,” she said.
She said that compassion, not condescension, for those remaining on the fence about certain public health recommendations is key.
“Only by showing compassion do we give people the space they need to consider their beliefs – about masking, vaccination and doing their part to protect others,” she said. “Without compassion, without empathy, we only cause people to feel attacked, and we can unintentionally cause divisions to grow.”
She urged people to find new ways to reach out with compassion to “those with differing beliefs.”
“I understand that we’re frustrated and worried about the future,” she said, “but we are truly all in this together.”
Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, mguza@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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January 06, 2022 at 05:04AM
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Covid positivity rate in Allegheny skyrockets to 26% as omicron spreads - TribLIVE
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