State lauds county move to slow virus’s rising spread
The number of COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania climbed to 85,988, as the state reported an additional 492 cases and eight more deaths on Monday, and the state is taking notice of an increased rate in positive tests being recorded in Allegheny County.
According to the state health department, Western Pennsylvania had an additional 129 cases as of Monday. Allegheny County (83 new cases) had the highest increase in cases; Westmoreland County (20 new cases) had the second-highest increase in the region.
Allegheny County’s additional cases make Monday the fourth consecutive day the county has seen new daily numbers over 60. No new deaths were reported.
The additional cases bring the county total to 2,651, with 2,508 confirmed and 143 probable, since the pandemic started in March. The recent cases involve
individuals ranging in age from 9 to 89, but the median age is 26.
Dr. Debra Bogen, the county’s health director, said more people were being tested for the disease, but the higher number of infections reflected a surge in the virus in the community.
“In one three-day period, we tested 1,000 people, but we’re seeing a higher positive rate because there’s a lot more COVID disease in our community than there was a few weeks ago,” Dr. Bogen said.
In the past 10 days, the county has had 513 new cases. In an effort to contain the virus, county officials on Sunday announced the sale of alcohol for on-site consumption is prohibited. Though effective immediately, enforcement won’t begin until Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Case investigators noted multiple people who tested positive for the contagious virus had visited bars on the
South Side and in Oakland, as well as vacationing in Florida, in Texas, along the coast of the Carolinas and in other COVID-19 hot spots.
During comments at a news conference in Harrisburg on Monday, state Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said the increased percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 is concerning.
Allegheny County’s online data shows the county had not had a positive test rate of 5% or more since May 24 — with positivity rates of just 1% or 2% most days. Then, starting on June 20 when the positivity rate hit 5% for the first time in a month, it has gone higher since then, hitting 10% on June 25, 9% on June 26, and 11% on June 27. The last time the county had an 11% positivity rate was in mid-April.
Despite that, Dr. Levine said the state had no plans to move Allegheny County back to the yellow phase, which would impose restrictions on all businesses, not just bars and restaurants.
At the same news conference, Gov. Tom Wolf said he liked the move Allegheny County is making to target bars and restaurants, where evidence in the county showed most of the new cases were coming from.
“We’re still looking at what we can do to mitigate,” he said. “And we’re trying things, like, if we take care of places that congregate, like Allegheny County is trying this by saying, ‘OK, we’re just not going to serve alcohol in restaurants. That’s a place where people come together.’”
Despite his support for Allegheny County’s move, Mr. Wolf said he is not considering a statewide ban on drinking in bars and restaurants akin to what he ordered three months ago across the state when every county had restrictions on businesses.
“Right now, we’re in the stage that, I think, where we can do things with surgical precision that we couldn’t three months ago,” he said.