Mar 22, 2020 4 min read

Two more positive cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Washington County, the state Department of Health reported Sunday morning.

The county now has seven cases, as two others were reported Saturday.

County Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan said she had no further details on the latest cases. She said she heard about them from state Rep. Tim O’Neal, R-South Strabane.

“I’m not surprised to see more positives with more testing, and wouldn’t be surprised to see the number rise,” Irey Vaughan said.

“A lot of experts say this will peak in two or three weeks. We don’t believe we’ve hit a peak yet.”

The number of cases has risen to 40 in Allegheny County, the county’s Health Department reported Sunday morning. Four individuals are hospitalized, department officials said.

That number of cases is an increase of nine from the 31 reported Saturday. The figure was 29 Friday.

The Health Department said it expects these numbers to continue to grow.

The University of Pittsburgh on Sunday evening reported its first positive case. The school said in a news release it has “located everyone who was believed to be in contact with the affected student, and they are voluntarily self-isolating on campus for 14 days.” Pitt said it has provided “appropriate medical instruction and support resources” for those individuals.

In an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, Col. Robert Evanchick, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, said Sunday his agency will assist in the enforcement of Gov. Tom Wolf’s order closing physical locations of non-life-sustaining businesses.

Businesses that were not deemed to be life-sustaining will be expected to close down in-person operations beginning at 8 a.m. Monday.

“The priority of the Pennsylvania State Police is protecting lives and maintaining order in the commonwealth. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic, troopers and liquor control enforcement officers are prepared to ensure compliance with Gov. Wolf’s order,” Evanchick said in the release.

He said private businesses, organizations and other noncompliant entities face possible criminal penalties, which are summary offenses punishable by fines and jail time.

Violators may also be subject to additional administrative penalties under certain circumstances, the release said.

“We believe most Pennsylvanians want to act responsibly and do their part to help slow the spread of this deadly virus,” Evanchick said. “Troopers and liquor control officers will make every effort to achieve voluntary compliance by educating business owners and using discretion when appropriate. But our message is clear: COVID-19 is a serious health and public safety risk that requires an extraordinary response from law enforcement and the public. I urge everyone to stay home, stay calm and stay safe.”

In addition to state police, Wolf directed Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, Department of Health and Department of Agriculture to enforce the closures, the release said.

Local officials, “using their resources to enforce closure orders within their jurisdictions,” have also been given permission to enforce the closures, the release said.

In the midst of what he called “the most significant crisis of our lifetime,” Wolf held a news briefing Sunday night to discuss closures of the non-life-sustaining businesses.

“Our focus is on full compliance of the physical closure of these businesses,” he said. The governor added that “tens of thousands” of these businesses have complied, and others can apply for a waiver.

He said Dennis Davin, secretary of the state Department of Community and Economic Development, reported that about 1,000 waiver requests have been made.

“We’re willing to do what we can for businesses, but we have to make people safe,” the governor said. “This can’t be a government versus an individual or a government versus business thing. We are all in this together.”

Asked whether he plans to extend mitigation efforts beyond the 14 days he had set, a period that will expire in about a week, the governor said, “We’re seeing more cases each day, so this is going the wrong way. When we start to see a decline in cases, when the curve (of positive cases) starts to bend, I’ll be the happiest person in the world.

“If we can’t succeed at this, we’re all going to be in really, really big trouble.”