Butler County added 33 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 over two days, but was not in the second wave of counties to receive rapid antigen card disbursements.

According to multiple reports by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the county added 14 confirmed cases Tuesday and 19 on Wednesday. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 1,252 county residents have tested positive for the virus.

As of Wednesday, the county's death toll remained at 27. Despite the lack of additional deaths, the county's latest trend is following a statewide rise in cases.

In the past two weeks, Butler County has added an average of 14 confirmed cases per day. But in September, the county population averaged eight new confirmed cases per day.

The state has consistently averaged more than 1,000 new cases per day over the past two weeks. Wednesday was no exception as the state added 1,425 positive results. The statewide total for the entirety of the pandemic stands at 186,297.

Health officials nationwide have warned about a resurgence coinciding with this year's flu season, and state officials believe this is the beginning of that.

“Antigen test cards are a timely, quick and easy-to-use tool for communities to receive rapid COVID-19 testing,” said Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine.

In response, the federal government has escalated the distribution of new rapid antigen test cards, which can be self-administered and produce results in about 15 minutes.

According to the Department of Health, the Abbott-produced tests have been FDA approved and have reported a 97.1% sensitivity and 98.5% specificity. However, the PCR type of test is still considered to have the highest accuracy.

“Antigen tests look for pieces of proteins that make up the SARS-CoV-2 virus and are less sensitive than PCR tests for detecting COVID-19 infections,” Levine said.

On Tuesday, the state began distributing the second allotment of the test kits to Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-certified institutions in Berks, Huntingdon, Union and Westmoreland counties.

Last week, 70,840 tests were distributed to 55 facilities in Bradford, Centre, Lebanon, Montour, Northumberland, Schuylkill and Snyder counties.

“The counties are selected on a weekly basis in accordance with the Department of Education's transmissions table,” said Maggi Mumma, deputy press secretary for the Department of Health.

Thus far, the tests have been sent to specific health care providers, such as long-term care facilities, correctional institutions and colleges, according to Mumma, but the department is working to partner with health care systems in the future.

However, this would mean Butler Health System is not in current plans to receive the tests, although the system has better access to PCR tests.

BHS has an outdoor testing facility that is currently on Brady Street, although on Monday the tent will move permanently to 304 Delwood Road in Butler.

On Wednesday, BHS reported inpatient numbers seeing a plateau in Butler Memorial Hospital's numbers, but a rise at Clarion Hospital.

Butler Memorial remained at the same level as Monday's report with four inpatients, all with confirmed cases of COVID-19. However, the hospital is reporting only one of those patients being treated in the intensive care unit, one fewer than Monday.

Clarion Hospital has five inpatients, an increase of two from Monday. Four of those patients have confirmed cases of the virus. Two of the five COVID-inpatients are being treated in the ICU.