No plan to reinstate mask mandate in Allegheny County yet, according to Fitzgerald
Despite a rising number of COVID-19 cases in Allegheny County, a renewed mask mandate is “not being considered necessarily at this time,” according to Rich Fitzgerald, the county’s executive.
At a Wednesday afternoon media briefing, Fitzgerald said, however, he and other officials would be “looking at the data” as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus increases the rates of infection and illness. There have been more than 100 new cases per day in Allegheny County in recent days, and the positivity rate for those tested has reached 3.7%. Hospitalizations have also increased.
The number of cases that have been verified are “probably the tip of the iceberg,” said Debra Bogen, the director of Allegheny County’s health department, since many people do not know they are infected or have declined to be tested.
Fitzgerald and Bogen again urged county residents to get vaccinated.
“The effectiveness of the vaccine is not disputable,” Fitzgerald said.