Covid positivity on Allegheny’s Sky Rocket will increase to 26% as Omicron spreads

The covid-19 positive rate in Allegheny County soared in the past week as the Omicron subspecies prevailed, and Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said that at this point the rapidly prevailing subspecies covered most of the county’s cases. He said it was likely to occupy.

The 7-day average of positive PCR tests in the county was 26.4%, and the county said, “I have never seen a positive rate in this range throughout the pandemic.”

“This is a new high and of course very worrisome,” she said.

According to county data, more than 13,300 cases were reported among county residents during the week of December 26-January 1, with approximately 9% being re-infected. During that period, 41 people died of the virus.

Bogen said hospitalizations had declined from peaks at the end of November and early December, but hospitalizations were often one to two weeks behind the cases.

According to her, Omicron variants are likely to account for most of the new Covid cases at this point.

“Only Omicron will really explain the big surge we’ve seen,” she said, saying that the analysis of wastewater in the county also shows a big rise in variants.

Bogen says that Omicron appears to cause less severe illness than other variants, but hospital systems can still easily be overwhelmed when cases are exploding as they are today. , Called continuous attention.

For example, she said that about 20 out of 1,000 delta variant infections require hospitalization, with an average of 3,000 cases per week, which means an average of 60 hospitalizations per week. She said that the Omicron variant sends only about 7 out of 1,000 infections to the hospital, but if there are 12,000 cases a week, this means 84 hospitalizations.

“Careful adherence to mitigation guidance is very important,” says Bogen.

Bogen urged people to show compassion.

“Regardless of our beliefs and vaccination status, we need to be attentive to each other, protect each other, and be good neighbors,” she said.

She said compassion, not compassion for those remaining on the fence, was important for certain public health recommendations.

“Only by showing compassion, we give people the space they need to consider their beliefs – about masking, vaccination, and their role in protecting others,” she said. Told. “Without compassion and empathy, we only make people feel attacked and can unintentionally grow divisions.”

She urged people to find new ways to reach out with compassion to “people with different beliefs.”

“We understand that we are frustrated and worried about the future, but we are really together,” she said.