Allegheny County continued its surge in new coronavirus infections, with 45 other cases reported Wednesday. This follows Monday’s count of 45 cases, which was the highest daily total in more than a month.
But UPMC, the state’s largest medical system, says it is important to have a broader view of how the pandemic is progressing.
“As we and others increase testing … and inevitably we see positive increases among younger, healthier people … we need to change our mindset and focus on the severity of the disease, rather than just counting the number of new infections, “Dr. Donald from UPMC Yealy said at a press conference on Wednesday morning.
Across its 40-hospital system, UPMC reports that the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 is the lowest since April.
“Today we have 14 patients with COVID-19 in our entire system who are in [ventilators] … It’s a four-fold decrease from the speech we saw in April, “said Yealy, who is the system’s chief of emergency medicine.
While the numbers at UPMC may be low, the Allegheny County Health Department says hospitalizations are on the rise and that increases in infections and hospitalizations do not occur simultaneously, as it takes time for a patient’s conditions to worsen.
Local and national data shows that COVID-19 patients are now younger. Statistically, younger people have better COVID-19 results.
“That means collectively, we have acquired more immunity without the damage that accompanies the infection,” Yealy said. “Infections have come and gone since the beginning of time, and they disappear for many reasons. Partly due to the recovery of many people who have acquired the infection. “
Yealy’s stance is different from that of Dr. Debra Bogen, director of the Allegheny County Health Department, who said herd immunity requires that at least 60 percent of the population be infected.
“We often live in multi-generation homes. We go to workplaces with many generations of people, from young to old, ”Bogen said during the county’s weekly press conference. “My goal is to keep the number of infections really low until we have good treatment and a vaccine that can protect our entire community.”
While youth generally survive COVID-19, people in their twenties and thirties have died from the disease.
“It’s kind of a game of odds,” Bogen said. “The more people get it, the more you get the rare result of a bad result.”
Bogen said he was unaware of the large clusters of cases and that most newly infected people are unsure where or how they contracted the virus. That means that people who don’t know they have COVID-19 are passing the virus on to others.
Bogen’s concerns are shared by other public officials, including County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, the Secretary of the State Department of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine, and Governor Tom Wolf.
Throughout the pandemic, UPMC has offered a more optimistic outlook than public health officials. The medical system challenged the state health department’s ban on elective surgeries, which was enacted to prepare hospitals for potential surges for patients with COVID-19 and preserve supplies of personal protective equipment.
Despite their differing opinions, Bogen and Yealy unequivocally agree on at least one thing: masks. Both urged the public not only to wear face covers, but also to make sure they properly cover both the mouth and nose.
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