County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper and Erie County Department of Health announce 12 new
positive cases of COVID-19 and one new death have been reported in Erie County as of 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 5.
The total cumulative cases of COVID-19 in Erie County is 1,037, with 183 active cases, 828 recovered cases, 18,187 negatives and 26 deaths recorded in NEDSS.
Updated data can be found on the chart on the “Positive Cases in Erie County” page on eriecountypa.gov.
Of the cumulative cases, 58% are female and 42% are male. The breakdown of cases by race/ethnicity is as follows:
- 57% White residents
- 25% African American/Black residents
- 7% Asian residents
- 3% Other
- 9% Unknown
Nine percent of the cases are Hispanic, of any race; 80% are not Hispanic; and 12% are unknown.
The age breakdown of the cumulative cases looks like this:
- 3% are ages 0-4
- 2% are ages 5-9
- 6% are ages 10-18
- 15% are ages 19-24
- 38% are ages 25-49
- 19% are ages 50-64
- 16% are ages 65 and older
Note: Percent values of each breakdown may not total 100 due to rounding.
Melissa Lyon, director of the Erie County Department of Health, joined the County Executive today to clarify the role of the Erie County Department of Health during the pandemic.
“During this pandemic one of our roles is to manage isolation and quarantine of COVID-19-infected persons or exposed persons to prevent the spread of the virus to other people – the public,” Lyon said. “The Erie County Department of Health does not receive or maintain information about hospitalizations or the types of treatments that individuals are receiving with a hospital system. This also includes the use of ventilators. That is reported from the healthcare systems and individual hospitals directly to the State Department of Health, not the county
health department.”
The Erie County Department of Health receives data regarding laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 only, which is used to do contact tracing. Public health is not responsible for providing treatment, nor are they responsible for the data associated with such care.
“I want to assure all of today’s listeners that we are reporting accurate data as it relates to public health disease prevention. The data we use is to prevent the spread of disease within a community.”
Dr. James Lin, DO, MHSA, president of LECOM Institute for Successful Aging, also provided an update on the Regional Response Health Collaboration Program and long-term care facilities.
Consistent with Wednesday updates, the County Executive reminds everyone to complete the 2020 Census.
Erie County is at 70% completion, and the City of Erie is at 62%. Residents can visit my2020census.gov or call 844-330-2020 to complete the census.
The U.S. Census Bureau will end in-person/door-knocking interviews Sept. 30 – a month early. Census takers only have half the time to follow up with households who have not responded, and this will specifically impact areas where Erie County is seeing low response rates. Some census tracts in the city are as low as 35%.
“If these areas are undercounted, our area will lose necessary federal funding for education, housing and medical programs,” Dahlkemper said. “Additionally, we will lose representation to less populated areas. Please share the importance of completing the census with your friends and neighbors.”
All questions related to COVID-19 should be directed to Erie County Department of Health at 814-451-6700 or ecdhinfo@eriecountypa.gov.
For more information related to COVID-19 including fact sheets, business resources, family resources, videos, translations, guidance and more, visit eriecountypa.gov and the social media accounts for Erie County, Pa., and Erie County Department of Health.
