Allegheny County not prepared to lift COVID-19 restrictions
Allegheny County will not immediately ease any COVID-19 restrictions despite experiencing a significant decrease in the daily number of new cases.
Debra Bogen, director of the county’s health department, said it will take three weeks for the county to see the impact from thousands of college students returning to Pittsburgh.
“We’ve seen some really good numbers,” county Executive Rich Fitzgerald said Wednesday when the number of new daily cases in Allegheny dropped to 14.
Fitzgerald said it has taken two months for the numbers to show improvement after they surged into three digits per day when nonessential businesses were permitted to reopen June 5.
He said county residents have been vigilant in wearing masks and practicing social distancing to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
County officials have seen how quickly the virus can spread and how long it takes to bring the numbers down, he said.
“It’s been quite a journey to get these numbers down,” Fitzgerald said.
Allegheny County has set a 50-person limit for outdoor gatherings and will continue to restrict restaurants to 25% of their occupancy rates, a rule that was set by the state, Bogen said.
Allegheny reported eight new COVID-19 deaths Wednesday. There were no new deaths from the disease that day in Washington, Fayette or Greene counties, according to the state Health Department.
Washington County added four new virus cases to its total that stood Wednesday at 983. Greene County’s cases held again at 135. Fayette County saw two new cases, taking its total to 663.