A Detailed Report on the Impact of COVID-19 in Pittsburgh, PA

This report provides an analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, focusing on data available as of April 13, 2020. The report details the declaration of the pandemic by the World Health Organization and the spread of the virus in the United States and Pennsylvania. It presents confirmed case numbers, death rates, and recovery statistics for the U.S., Pennsylvania, and Allegheny County. The report examines infection rates, symptoms, transmission rates, and the demographics of those affected, including age groups and underlying health conditions. It highlights the higher risk for the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions. The report also discusses hospitalization rates, mortality rates, and the measures being taken to manage the pandemic, such as social distancing and the search for treatments and vaccines. The data reveals that while the overall rate of new infections was projected to drop, Pittsburgh, like other large cities, was a high-risk area. It also highlights the importance of preventative measures such as hand hygiene and mask-wearing.

COVID -19 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The World Health Organization declared the novel Coronavirus -2019(SARS-COV-2) a
pandemic on 11th March 2020. The organization considers it a very high-risk disease. Severe
acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 was the disease’s designated name. By the 13th of
April, 2020 every county within Pennsylvania State had confirmed cases of the disease. While
the first case within the United States of America was first identified in January, by mid-March
every one of the 50 states had cases of the virus. Community transmission was first determined
in February 2020. In February, there were few infections but a sharp increase was observed from
20th march. There was a 93.5 % correlation in infection rates between Italy and the United States
in mid-March (Nash et al., 2020) .As of 13th April 2020, the United States had the highest
number of confirmed cases in the world. Close to two million people globally have been
confirmed to have the virus. There were 568,176 confirmed cases within the United States of
America with 22,935 deaths according to John Hopkins University. More than 41,000
individuals have recovered. The numbers were expected to rise within the days following this.
The rate of new infections is, however, projected to drop. The state of Pennsylvania had 22,938
cases with 557 deaths. More than 98,500 people had tested negative within the county. The
county of Allegheny had 857 confirmed cases with 19 reported deaths. The county had increases
of 2.5 % against the country’s 5.4% increase rate.80% of people with the disease however; only
get mild symptoms which clear even without medical attention.
Compared to the seasonal flu, the coronavirus-2019 disease is more infectious and has a longer
incubation time. It takes 2-14 days for symptoms to develop after exposure. It has been reported
to be 10 times deadlier than the seasonal flu. This is made worse by the asymptomatic individual
still being able to spread the disease. In 97.5% of those who get symptoms, the occurrence is
usually on the 10.5 day (Lipsitch et al., 2020).The most common symptoms include fever, dry
cough, and fatigue. In some few cases, sore throat, nasal obstruction occurs. Diarrhea, abdominal
pain and vomiting also common. The measures for severity range from asymptomatic to mild to
severe to fatal. Transmission levels are categorized as having no cases, sporadic cases, clustering
of cases and finally community transmission.
Initially, the transmission of the virus was studied. During the 14 day evaluation period, 12 % of
close contacts had worse symptoms or got new ones. It was determined there was a 10.5 %
symptomatic attack rate within households with it being 0.45% in close contacts. The
transmission rate initially doubled every seven days with each infected individual spreading it to
2.2 other people. Studies of those over 60 years indicated they had a higher risk than children
who show generally milder symptoms or are asymptomatic. Within the United States, 31% of
cases involved those over 65 years. Those over 85 years made up 6% of these cases. Those over
65 years made up 80% of deaths. Those with coronary heart disease, hypertension,
cardiovascular disease, and chronic lung disease or diabetes were more susceptible to infections
(Chow et al., 2020). 78% of infections were of those with at least one disease. 2% of cases were

of those below 18 years with the median age being 11 years.57% of these children were male
(Bialek et al., 2020) Fever, problems in breathing and cough were noted in 73% of these
incidences. Of those children whose exposure was known, 97% were infected through
community transmission.
As of 12th April 2020, no one under 19 years had been hospitalized in Pittsburgh. 2% of those
hospitalized were 20 to 29 years. 15 % of cases have resulted in hospitalization (130 people as
of the 12th April 2020). All deaths in Allegheny County were of those over 65 years. Within the
county of those hospitalized 22 individuals was African American, 80 were Caucasian while 5
were of other races and 23 of unknown racial backgrounds. One individual of those who was
reported dead from the virus was black while the 18 others were whites. The most affected age
groups of those confirmed to have been infected are 20 to 29 years and 50 to 59 years. Those
from 0 to 9 years have the lowest numbers. As such 50% of those with the virus are below 50
years of age. The rate of new cases declined from 5th April and remained at below 10% from the
previous 9-100%. The hospitalization rate has also reduced from 25 to 15%.
In China, the mean age of patients was 59 years. Further, there was higher mortality and
morbidity in older populations of which males made up 56 %. The preliminary reports did not
have infections of children for fewer than 15 years. When children infections were identified
76.1% of them had a fever with 70.4% having chest imaging with changes resembling
pneumonia. 16% of cases within China were severe. The fatality rate is determined by the
proportion of deaths divided by proportion of total cases. Italy’s rate was 7.2% as of 7th March.
The rate was 2.0% within Allegheny County as of the 12th of April, 2020.
The hardest-hit cities are usually larger ones such as New York and Washington D.C.However,
Pittsburgh is also a high-risk area (Stier et al., 2020) .The search for a vaccine is still ongoing
such as within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Currently, antiviral treatment such as
ritonavir and interferon is being used, though when convalescent plasma was administered
improvements were noted within a week. Those at greatest risk are healthcare providers
attending to the coronavirus patients, individuals who have had close contact with infected
people, people who have traveled to a country with a high incidence of the disease, persons in
nursing homes, the older population and anyone of any age with an underlying medical
condition. For transmission to be managed it was recommended that infections be reduced to 1.0
people. Washing of hands with 60% alcohol-based sanitizers or soap for more than 20 seconds,
maintaining of a distance of 6 feet with others, use of face masks in public and closure of schools
is expected to limit infections. (Jamieson-Lane& Cytrnbaum, 2020).

References
Bialek, S., Gierke, R., Hughes, M., McNamara, L. A., & Pilishvili, T. (2020). Coronavirus
disease 2019 in children — United States, February 12–April 2, 2020. MMWR. Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(14), 422-426.
Chow, N., Fleming-Dutra, K., Gierke, R., Hall, A., & Hughes, M. (2020). Preliminary estimates
of the prevalence of selected underlying health conditions among patients with
coronavirus disease 2019 — united States, February 12–March 28, 2020. MMWR.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(13), 382-386.
Jamieson-Lane, A. D., & Cytrnbaum, E. (2020). The effectiveness of targeted quarantine for
minimizing the impact of COVID-19.
Lipsitch, M., Swerdlow, D. L., & Finelli, L. (2020). Defining the epidemiology of COVID-19 —
Studies needed. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(13), 1194-1196.
Nash, G., Schiffmann, A., & Craig, S. T. (2020). Comparing the spread of COVID-19 between
Italy and the United States. SSRN Electronic Journal.
Stier, A. J., Berman, M. G., & Bettencourt, L. M. (2020). COVID-19 attack rate increases with
city size.