Nov 27, 2020 2 min read

With the surge in new COVID-19 cases, it was predicted this week that Allegheny County is on track to see 2,000 of them a day in the coming weeks, its county Executive Rich Fitzgerald said Wednesday.

The county was experiencing an average of 30 new cases a day in May and June, a number that has “stubbornly” spiked to between 500 and 600 a day in recent weeks, Fitzgerald said.

“It’s been a challenging couple of weeks, and I’m not sure when it’s going to get better,” said Debra Bogen, director of the county’s Health Department.

She said deaths and hospitalizations due to the disease also are rising in a region with a robust health-care system.

There were about 30 hospitalizations weekly linked to the virus in September, a number that climbed to 162 the second week of November, Bogen said. She said there have already been 64 deaths this month associated with COVID-19, a number that was about 50 per month in September and October.

“These numbers will continue to climb,” she said during a Wednesday briefing on the virus.

“This is a very serious, scary disease, Fitzgerald said. “More people we love are going to be missed.”

The briefing was interrupted by loud state cellphone alerts on smartphones in the room warning the public about the surge in cases and hospitalizations.

The state Health Department reported Thursday Washington County’s death toll from coronavirus rose by one to 70, with 4,237 cases.

Greene County’s case total rose to 693 with five deaths, while Fayette County now has 1,950 cases and 18 deaths.

Allegheny County’s caseload rose to 25,952 with 498 deaths and Westmoreland County now has 8,412 cases and 186 deaths.

The total number of coronavirus cases statewide reached 336,254 with 10,213 deaths and increase of 118 from a day earlier.

There have been 2,765,229 negative tests for COVID-19 in the state since March.