Allegheny County Coronavirus Death Toll Skyrockets

PITTSBURGH, PA — The Allegheny County Health Department on Wednesday reported 34 new coronavirus deaths, the largest number reported in a single day since the outbreak began in March. The county death toll now stands at 619, up from 585 on Tuesday.

The county reported 727 new or probable coronavirus cases. There now have been 35,541 cases in the county during the pandemic, up from 34,814 on Tuesday.

There have been 2,631 hospitalizations in the county during the outbreak. That's up from 2,311 reported Tuesday.

The 645 confirmed cases came from 2,099 new tests - a positivity rate of 30 percent. To put that number into perspective, the latest positivity rate for tests across Pennsylvania is 14 percent, state officials said.

With 11,667 cases in Westmoreland County, 5,677 in Washington County, 5,530 in Butler County and 5,119 in Beaver County, that brings the total number of cased to 63,1534 when Allegheny County numbers are included. That's up from 62,152 reported on Tuesday.

According to the state Department of Health, there have been 1,251 deaths in the region from the virus: Six hundred and nineteen in Allegheny County, 250 in Westmoreland County, 177 in Beaver County, 99 in Butler County and80 in Washington County. That's up from 1,169 reported on Tuesday.