Erie County Reports 179 New Cases Today Including Albion Prison Outbreak

CDC/Erie Reader

On Wednesday, Mar. 10, the office of Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper announced 179 new positive cases of COVID-19. Dahlkemper was quick to note that "of the new cases, 132 are attributed to mass testing that was conducted at Albion State Correctional Institution."

It was noted by both Dahlkemper and the Erie County Department of Health's Melissa Lyon that while the vast majority of these Albion cases occurred amongst an isolated group of individuals, there is some risk concerning the employees of Albion SCI in regards to community spread. Lyon categorized the overall risk of this particular outbreak as "mild to low" to the community.

Erie County's cumulative total now stands at 17,875 total cases and 444 total deaths.

In the past week, there have been 801 new cases (669 not including those at the Albion prison) and nine deaths* listed in the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS). On average, there was an average of more than 114 new cases per day (or 95 not including Albion's numbers). 

There have been 60,794 negative tests, with 2,282 this week and 1,030 last week. The PA Department of Health reported a positivity rate of 7.3%.

According to Dahlkemper, there are currently 29 people hospitalized from COVID-19, with three on ventilators.

Before today, all single-day totals have been below 100 since Thursday, Feb. 11. 

Of the total cases, 52% are female and 47% are male.** 

*Statistics in NEDSS are readjusted to reflect accuracy, often accounting for a patient's formal place of residency.

**Due to rounding, totals may not equal 100%. 

Day-by-day Breakdown

Thurs 3/4/21 - 58 new cases

Fri 3/5/21 - 52 new cases, one new death

Sat 3/6/21 - 27 new cases

Sun 3/7/21 - 19 new cases

Mon 3/8/21 - 29 new cases, two new deaths 

Tues 3/9/21 - 51 new cases

Wed 3/10/21 - 179 new cases

Dates indicate reporting of statistics, which references the previous day.  

Weekly Breakdown Since December

Dec. 3 - 9: 53 deaths, 1,643 cases reported

Dec. 10 - 16: 35 deaths, 1,585 cases reported

Dec. 17 - 23: 45 deaths, 1,878 cases reported

Dec. 24 - 30: 46 deaths, 991 cases reported

Dec. 31 - Jan. 6: 37 deaths, 931 cases reported 

Jan. 7 - Jan. 13: 21 deaths, 1,178 cases reported

Jan. 14 - Jan. 20: 42 deaths, 816 cases reported

Jan. 21 - Jan. 27: Four deaths, 681 cases reported

Jan. 28 - Feb. 3: 37 deaths, 677 cases reported

Feb. 4 - Feb. 10: 11 deaths, 437 cases reported 

Feb. 11 - Feb. 17: 14 deaths, 492 cases reported

Feb. 18 - Feb. 24: Nine deaths, 362 cases reported

Feb. 25 - Mar. 3: Five deaths, 386 cases reported

Mar. 4 - Mar. 10: Nine deaths, 801 cases reported

State, Local, and National Statistics 

Today, Pennsylvania saw 2,594 additional positive cases reported, for a total of 955,730 cumulative cases. 

So far, there have been 24,439 deaths statewide. 

In the past week, Pennsylvania has seen 270 deaths, with 382 reported last week.

In the last week, Pennsylvania saw 17,319 new positive cases (17,777 last week and 17,984 the week prior). 

So far, 3,128,637 doses of vaccine have been administered in PA, with 575,119 occurring this week. 

In the US 56,281,827 vaccines have been administered, with more than 11.5 million this week.

According to the CDC, the US has a total of 28,992,598 total cases, with 535,738 new cases in the last seven days. There have been 52,815 new cases in the last 24 hours. 

The total number of deaths in the US is 526,213, with 13,091 reported in the last week and 1,503 in the last 24 hours. 

As for updates in our nearby counties, Crawford County has 6,481 positive cases (up 69 this week), with 138 deaths (up two). 

McKean County has 3,086 positive cases (up 64) and 65 deaths (up three). 

Venango County has 3,431 positive cases (up 55) and 87 deaths (up three). 

Warren County has 2,216 total positive cases (up 74), and 98 deaths (no change).