PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - UPMC says a declining number of COVID-19 patients in Western Pennsylvania means it is ready to resume elective surgeries.
Chief of Emergency Medicine Dr. Donald Yealy says only 2 percent of UPMC’s hospital beds are devoted to coronavirus patients.
“We haven’t had a single asymptomatic patient in Western Pennsylvania test positive for COVID-19 as part of our strategy to bring people back,” said Dr. Yealy.
The health organization began testing not only those displaying symptoms of COVID-19 but those who enter their facilities that are asymptomatic and not there for a coronavirus-related issue last week.
The number of COVID-19 cases have been declining, 30 per 100,000 residents in Allegheny County.
Yealy says within a few weeks UPMC hopes to have a test that can predict if COVID-19 antibodies are long lasting.
“No one can tell you that right now, the best they can tell you is certain number of people have had some circulating antibody around but whether or not it actually is protective in the future, we simply don’t know yet,” said Dr. Yealy.
After that antibody test is available, they will administer that to all patients along with a virus test.
UPMC says they have discharged 236 COVID-19.
94 people have died from coronavirus in Allegheny County.
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