Erie County's COVID-19 cases 'four times' higher than official count; 800th death reported
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Erie County reported 777 new cases of COVID-19 last week, its highest weekly number since late January.
The actual number of new cases is higher, likely much higher, due to the popularity of at-home COVID-19 tests, which are not included in the data, said Charlotte Berringer, R.N., director of community health services for the Erie County Department of Health.
Others who have COVID-19 simply aren't getting tested at all unless they become sick enough to see their doctor or visit the emergency department.
So, how many people likely were infected with COVID-19 between May 16-22?
"Four times the official number (of 777 cases)," Berringer said. "That's a professional guesstimate."
About 3,100 cases a week is far more than even the nearly 1,250 COVID-19 cases a week predicted by the latest virus samples taken May 17 from the Erie Wastewater Treatment Plant, though the plant doesn't serve all of Erie County.
Either way, another COVID-19 surge has sent the county to a high COVID-19 Community Level, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. It's the main reason why the Erie School District, Erie City Hall and Penn State Behrend once again require face masks inside their buildings.
More: Erie School District mandates face masks as Erie County reaches high COVID Community Level
"It's actually a good idea right now to wear a mask anytime you go inside any public building, or even outside if there are a lot of people gathering together," Berringer said. "There is just a lot of virus out there right now."
The good news: Hospitalizations not keeping pace with COVID case count
The silver lining to this surge is that, while COVID-19 hospitalizations are increasing in the county, they are not rising as rapidly as the case count.
Thirty-four county residents were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Tuesday night, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The county's 14-day moving average of daily COVID-19 hospitalizations has risen from 19.8 on April 20 to 32.4 on Wednesday.
"We had 26 COVID admissions last week, compared to 20 (the previous week) and 25 (the week before that)," said Christopher Clark, D.O., Saint Vincent Hospital president. "We continue to see a majority of patients who are in the hospital for other reasons test positive for COVID while they are here."
Fourteen county residents with COVID-19 were in intensive care units Tuesday night and one of them required a ventilator, the state health department reported.
At UPMC Hamot, two patients with COVID required ventilators on Tuesday, said Emily Shears, vice president for quality for UPMC in northwestern Pennsylvania and New York. Hamot and Saint Vincent treat many patients who live outside of Erie County.
"Both of them were older than 75 and we have another patient over 75 who requires extra oxygen," Shears said. "We certainly have patients coming into the hospital for COVID, though others are testing positive after being admitted for other reasons."
Clark and Shears said they were hopeful COVID-19 hospitalizations won't surge dramatically in the upcoming weeks. One reason for their optimism is that the current omicron subvariants don't seem to cause pneumonia and other complications at the rate earlier strains did.
"With delta, we saw this cascade of events to the body, including pneumonia and respiratory failure," Clark said. "These strains don't cause the same reaction to the body. We are seeing minor respiratory symptoms, like we do with cold viruses."
Erie County reports 800th COVID-19 death
Erie County reached a grim COVID-19 milestone Wednesday as the county health department reported the 800th death of a county resident due to COVID-19 complications.
COVID-19 deaths have slowed significantly in the county in recent months, with only 10 reported since March 1. But it is a reminder that COVID-19 has killed one county resident in every 337 since the pandemic started.
"We are still battling this virus," Berringer said. "We are tired of dealing with it, but the virus isn't finished with us yet. Vaccinations are good at preventing hospitalizations and deaths, though not as good at preventing infection. Masks remain a good way to reduce transmission."
More: Second booster? Fifth dose? Who is eligible for additional COVID-19 vaccine
Confirmed COVID-19 cases have declined slightly in recent days in the county after peaking late last week, the state health department reported. As a result, the state's weekly count for Erie County only rose by a single case.
Here is a look at the county's COVID-19 measurements between May 11-17 and May 18-24, according to the state health department:
The number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases increased from 541 to 542.
The rate of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents rose from 200.6 to 200.9.
The COVID-19 test positivity rate increased from 21.4% to 22.5%.
The average daily number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 rose from 29 to 35.9.
The average daily number of COVID-19 patients requiring ventilators increased from 1.0 to 2.3.
The percentage of emergency department visits due to COVID-19 symptoms rose from 1.2% to 1.5%.
Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNBruce.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County reports 800th COVID-19 death as new cases rise
