Butler Memorial Hospital reported Monday that it had 14 inpatients who tested positive with COVID-19, and two of them were in the Intensive Care Unit. The previous Monday, the hospital had 11 inpatients with COVID-19, two of whom also were in the ICU.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health, which compiles COVID-19 data from every county in the state every Wednesday, also reported a spike this week, with four COVID-related deaths and 453 new COVID cases in Butler County alone.

Despite the cases being in the 400s, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting a “low” COVID-19 community level — a measure of COVID-19’s impact on the health and healthcare system of a community, as of Thursday afternoon. The CDC’s report is determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area, according to its website.

Butler Health System's chief medical officer and emergency medical physician David Rottinghaus said April 19 that Butler Memorial Hospital was seeing COVID cases decline throughout the early months of the year. Additionally, the hospitalization rate was down in April compared to preceding months.

However, Rottinghaus also said COVID-19 data and the infection rate may be skewed by the number of at-home tests currently in circulation, as the results of those tests are not always reported. In turn, the hospital responds to COVID-19 based on how many hospitalizations the disease causes.

“At this point in time, our most important marker on how to respond is going to relate to admissions to the hospital and how sick people are getting,” Rottinghaus said.

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