Governor: Restaurant alcohol sales will be allowed until 11 p. m.
In a change from their original order relaxing some COVID- 19 restrictions, Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine have announced that restaurants can now sell alcohol on- site until 11 p. m., one hour later than previously ordered.
This will go into effect Monday and will apply to restaurants that self- certify and move to 50% capacity that day, as well as to restaurants that choose to stay at the 25% limit.
When the governor had originally announced that restaurants could change their capacity limits to 50% after a self- certification process, the order said that alcohol sales had to stop at 10 p. m.
Mr. Wolf and Dr. Levine signed the new order on Thursday.
“As we continue to take critical steps to continue to mitigate the spread of COVID- 19, we also recognize that this pandemic has taken a significant toll on the food services industry, so we must balance public health and economic recovery,” Mr. Wolf said in a news release. “These orders give restaurants the ability to increase indoor occupancy safely while giving customers confidence when deciding to patronize a restaurant.”
The self- certification documents will be available online on Monday.
Restaurants are being told they should complete the online self- certification process by Oct. 5, when enforcement relative to 50% occupancy will begin.
On Friday, the state reported 760 new cases of COVID- 19, and 21 more virus- related deaths.
Western Pennsylvania accounted for 188 of the state’s new cases, with Allegheny County having the largest daily increase with 68 new cases, followed by Mercer County with 21 new cases.
The 68 additional diagnoses in Allegheny County come from 833 PCR ( polymerase chain reaction) tests taken between Sept. 3 and Sept. 16. Those recently testing positive range in age from 1 to 98, with a median age of 33.
The new cases bring the county total to 11,578 since the pandemic started in March. Statewide, cases total 148,683.
With the addition of Friday’s newly reported deaths, 7,934 people have so far died of COVID- 19 in Pennsylvania. Of the 21 latest deaths, the Pittsburgh region reported seven: four in Allegheny County and one each in Armstrong, Beaver and Washington counties.
The four new deaths in Allegheny include one person in their 60s, one in their 70s and two people in their 80s. The deaths occurred between Sept. 4 and Sept. 11, and two deaths are associated with a long- term care facility, according to the county health department. The county death toll now stands at 370.
Allegheny County has had a total of 1,105 people hospitalized for COVID- 19. As of Friday, there were 38 people currently hospitalized, five of whom require mechanical ventilators.
Here is the total number of positive cases reported Friday in Western Pennsylvania:
• Allegheny: 11,578 ( up 68 from Thursday)
• Armstrong: 404 ( up 5)
• Beaver: 1,820 ( up 6)
• Butler: 976 ( up 10)
• Cambria: 537 ( up 9)
• Clarion: 113 ( no change)
• Clearfield: 295 ( up 2)
• Crawford: 287 ( up 4)
• Erie: 1,459 ( up 13)
• Fayette: 763 ( up 4)
• Forest: 14 ( no change)
• Greene: 166 ( up 1)
• Indiana: 605 ( up 9)
• Jefferson: 106 ( down 1)
• Lawrence: 495 ( up 3)
• Mercer: 684 ( up 21)
• Somerset: 201 ( up 4)
• Venango: 80 ( no change)
• Washington: 1,268 ( up 18)
• Westmoreland: 2,032 ( up 11)
Here is the total number of deaths reported Friday in Western Pennsylvania:
• Allegheny: 370 ( up 4 from Thursday; the state is reporting 344)
• Armstrong: 16 ( up 1)
• Beaver: 112 ( up 1)
• Butler: 22 ( no change)
• Cambria: 7 ( no change)
• Clarion: 3 ( no change)
• Clearfield: 1 ( no change)
• Crawford: 3 ( no change)
• Erie: 37 ( no change)
• Fayette: 7 ( no change)
• Forest: 0 ( no change)
• Greene: 1 ( no change)
• Indiana: 12 ( no change)
• Jefferson: 2 ( no change)
• Lawrence: 22 ( no change)
• Mercer: 13 ( no change)
• Somerset: 3 ( no change)
• Venango: 1 ( no change)
• Washington: 29 ( up 1)
• Westmoreland: 50 ( no change; the Westmoreland County coroner, whose numbers were last updated Aug. 31, is reporting 48)
Nursing, care homes
The state has released data — organized by county — about cases and deaths at nursing and personal care homes. Here’s information about Western Pennsylvania, based on Friday’s figures. Changes in deaths are noted in parentheses:
• Allegheny: 100 facilities, 1,446 cases among residents, 493 cases among employees, 279 deaths ( up 2)
• Beaver: 7 facilities, 642 cases among residents, 131 cases among employees, 115 deaths ( up 1)
• Butler: 16 facilities, 43 cases among residents, 28 cases among employees, 5 deaths ( up 1)
• Lawrence: 8 facilities, 52 cases among residents, 41 cases among employees, 8 deaths ( no change)
• Washington: 13 facilities, 78 cases among residents, 17 cases among employees, 9 deaths ( no change)
• Westmoreland: 23 facilities, 216 cases among residents, 64 cases among employees, 31 deaths ( no change)