Pittsburgh-area community living center hit with COVID-19 outbreak
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The Kane Community Living Center in McKeesport is dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak, Allegheny County officials confirmed on Friday.
A spokesperson for the county confirmed the outbreak began earlier this month and as of Thursday, 11% of the facility's 209 residents have tested positive for COVID-19. None of them have been hospitalized so far as most are experiencing mild symptoms, officials said.
KDKA-TV's news partners at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette talked to UPMC's Dr. David Nace, who said it's not surprising to see an outbreak in a nursing home.
During the pandemic, Allegheny County's four Kane Community Living Centers, like other nursing homes in the area, dealt with COVID-19 outbreaks and deaths.
Allegheny County's COVID-19 dashboard shows that cases rose slightly over the summer and plateaued around September before falling back down.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it expects to see a peak in respiratory viruses this winter, possibly a larger surge than what the nation saw this summer.
The Allegheny County Health Department encourages everyone, especially those at the highest risk of severe disease, to stay up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines.
New data from the CDC suggests that nearly 4 in 10 seniors have gotten a COVID-19 vaccine this year, marking a steep increase in vaccination rates compared with the same time last year.
During the 2023-2024 respiratory season, Allegheny County's dashboard shows 217 people ages 65 and older died from COVID-19, compared to 1,611 in 2020-21 and 1,067 in 2021-22.
