Cambria tops US COVID-19 surge

Blair ranks ninth in nation based on 14 days, website says

It has been clear to anyone following the local coronavirus numbers for the past month that Cambria County is in a serious surge, with a total of 5,030 new positives during that time -- an average of 167 per day.

Just how serious became clearer this weekend when Cambria rose to the top of covid-dash.net's list of the "50 Worst Outbreak Counties (in the nation) with Population 100,000 or Greater," based on the total number of cases per 100,000 people for the past two weeks.

Blair County is ninth on the list.

Cambria's 2,004 cases per 100,000 people over the past 14 days is 59 more than second-place Pueblo County, Colo., according to the website, which uses data from the New York Times and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Blair County's 14-day total of new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people is 1,626.

The 14-day "target," used by the website, based on reopening criteria in several states, is 25 or fewer cases per 100,000 people, which means that Cambria's infection rate is 80 times higher than it should be for relative safety.

Blair's rate of new cases per 100,000 people is 65 times higher than the target number.

The website graph that describes Cambria County's rise is nearly vertical.

Cambria's seven-day average for new cases is 194, while Blair's is 155.

Cambria's death rate has also surged, as shown by a graph of the average number of daily deaths per million people, which for the past seven days is 45.

Cambria had 15 deaths 30 days ago, and it now has 141.

Thus the county has averaged 4.2 deaths per day for the past month.

Blair County's daily average number of COVID-19 deaths per million people for the most recent seven days is 32.

Its rise in deaths hasn't been nearly as steep as Cambria County's, however.

A month ago, Blair had 41 deaths, and now it has 109, an average of 2.2 per day.

Pennsylvania has three other counties on the covid-dash.net list: Fayette at 12th, Lycoming at 38th and Mercer at 45th.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.