A Kane man is apparently the first McKean County resident to die of COVID-19.
While the official state count on Wednesday still lists the county’s death count as zero, reports in the community indicate that a Kane man died Tuesday of the disease.
Mayor Brandy Schimp shared a message to the Kane Borough community on Facebook.
“As Mayor, I extend the sympathy of the community to Samuel McKinney who succumbed this week to the coronavirus,” she said. “His family is dealing with the reality of what we all fear might happen to any one of us in these days.”
Schimp told residents, “Let us remember to honor Sam’s memory as we wear our masks, keep our distance and do what we can to protect one another. My sincerest condolences to his family.”
Pennsylvania Department of Health press secretary Nate Wardle explained that it can take a few days for a death to become part of the data.
“Typically, once a death occurs, if in a confirmed case, it is reported to the department within a few days and then reflected in our data,” he said.
The person in charge of reporting the death depends on the circumstances, according to Wardle.
“The death information is typically reported to the department by the medical professional who witnessed the death, yes,” he said. “If the death was not witnessed, then the county coroner would likely report the information to the state.”
Wardle talked about the criteria for a death to be included in Department of Health statistics for COVID-19 deaths.
“At this time, we are including deaths from people who tested positive, and people who were probable positive cases, which means they had symptoms and a high-risk exposure, such as being in a congregate care facility or living with someone who tested positive, or a positive antibody test and a high-risk exposure,” he explained.
On Wednesday, the Department of Health reported that the number of cases in local counties holds steady at six in McKean, four each in Elk and Potter, and two in Cameron. The state reported no deaths in the four local counties.
Statewide, there were 888 new positive cases of COVID-19 reported on Wednesday, which brings the statewide total to 51,845. There were 94 new deaths reported, bringing the statewide total to 3,106.
While it was reported that McKinney died in a UPMC hospital, a representative of UPMC was not able to confirm on Wednesday whether a patient from McKean County died from COVID-19 in one of its facilities.
“I’m sorry but we are not able to provide any patient information. It is a systemwide policy,” stated Karen Beardsley, a media relations employee of UPMC.
Beardsley was able to provide some details on the care of patients with COVID-19.
She explained that patients with the disease have a special section of the hospital designated for them, saying, “We have negative airflow units to safely care for these patients.”
Negative airflow units prevent potentially harmful particles from leaving a space.
“We are treating the patients medically, based on their presentation,” Beardsley noted.
According to Beardsley, the physician who provided care for a patient determines if COVID-19 was the cause of death. If they decide a patient did die of the disease, UPMC reports it to the state Department of Health as required by law.
As far as family and friends visiting, she said, “Right now we are still restricting visitation to hospitalized inpatients.”
UPMC has plans to increase testing for COVID-19, according to Beardsley.
When asked about UPMC’s policy on who gets tested, she said, “We are testing all symptomatic patients and high risk asymptomatic patients with a goal of increasing testing in the near future.”
