Butler County surpassed 500 COVID-19 deaths this week, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

The department of health reported 501 deaths as of Tuesday. It also reported 17,153 positive cases of COVID-19 in Butler County since March 2020, and about 13,313 cases per 100,000 people.

Karen Allen, chief nursing officer at Butler Health System, said seeing the number of deaths reach 500 in the county is difficult to process, but she and the staff at the hospital have felt the magnitude of that number.

“It has taken a lot of emotional toll on everybody,” Allen said. “We have three units we have COVID patients in and we ask staff, ‘Are you OK?’ And they just start crying.”

Read more in Friday's Butler Eagle.