Erie County Sees Week of 918 New COVID-19 Cases, Eight Deaths

Lakshmiprasad

On Wednesday, Nov. 18, the office of Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper reported 134 new positive cases of COVID-19. This brings our cumulative total to 3,764 positive cases. There have been 38,861 negative tests in total, 1,961 recorded this week, and 1,626 the previous week. 

According to the county, there have been 918 new positive cases in the past week, nearly double the number of new cases were reported compared to the week prior, with an average of more than 131 cases being reported each day. 

So far, there have been 2,493 recovered cases, with 36 announced today and 216 this week, for a total of 1,206 current active cases in Erie County, more than double the amount seen last week.

There have been 65 total Erie County deaths reported by the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS), with eight additional deaths reported this week. 

According to the Pennsylvania COVID-19 Dashboard, at this time, there are 65 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Erie County (nearly double the amount since last week), with five on ventilators. Dahlkemper cited 64 hospitalized patients with six on ventilators – her numbers given later in the day.

"The number of new cases per day has overwhelmed the public health capacity," said Melissa Lyon, director of the Erie County Department of Health. "The disease investigators are prioritizing case investigations based upon the vulnerability. Cases associated with long-term care facilities and persons 65 years of age or older are categorized as the highest priority for investigation," Lyon explained in a recent press release. "The Pennsylvania Department of Health's Western Regional Contract Tracing Coalition has been assisting with the contact tracing in Erie County. The community spread of COVID-19 in Erie County is substantial. 

"It is imperative that Erie County residents begin to think about changing their social activities," Lyon cautioned. "I am urging everyone to keep your social gatherings very small, to 10 people or fewer, and preferably not socialize with people you do not live with." 

Weekly breakdown

Thurs 11/12/20 - 124 new cases, two new deaths

Fri 11/13/20 - 108 new cases

Sat 11/14/20 - 149 new cases

Sun 11/15/20 - 135 new cases

Mon 11/16/20 - 101 new cases

Tues 11/17/20 - 167 new cases (Erie County's largest single-day total to date), four new deaths 

Wed 11/18/20 - 134 new cases, two new deaths

Cases by Race/Ethnicity

58% White residents  

13% African American/Black residents  

7% Asian residents  

2% Other  

20% Unknown  

*Four percent of the cases are Hispanic, of any race; 80% are not Hispanic; and 15% are unknown. 

Cases by Age

2% are ages 0-4

2% are ages 5-9

10% are ages 10-18

16% are ages 19-24

37% are ages 25-49

19% are ages 50-64

16% are ages 65 and older

*Percent values of each breakdown may not total 100 due to rounding.

State, Local, and National Statistics

Today, Pennsylvania saw 6,339 additional positive cases reported, for a total of 281,852. So far, there have been 9,465 deaths statewide. 2,470,785 patients have tested negative to date. In the last week, Pennsylvania saw 43,195 new positive cases (more than double the amount seen last week), 138,201 negative tests (78,061 less than the amount seen last week), and 379 deaths.

According to the CDC, the US has a total of 11,300,635 total cases, with 1,129,789 new cases in the last seven days and 164,382 in the last 24 hours. The total number of deaths in the US is 247,834, with 8,244 reported in the last week and 1,602 in the last 24 hours. 

As for updates in our nearby counties, Crawford County has 1,241 positive cases (up 428 this week), with eight deaths (four this week). McKean County has 292 positive cases (up 65) and two deaths. Venango County has 615 positive cases (up 157) and one death. Warren County has 124 total positive cases (up 31), and one death.

Ashtabula County's cumulative total is 1,678 positive cases (up 377 this week) and 53 deaths (five this week). Chautauqua County has a cumulative total of 1,393 positive cases (up 179) and 16 deaths (one this week).