by PublicSource Reporters
Continuing the county’s triple-digit case streak Wednesday, the Allegheny County Health Department [ACHD] announced 230 new COVID-19 infections, the second highest daily case count since the first cases were announced on March 14.
Health officials also announced two new fatalities and eight hospitalizations.
Wednesday’s announcement brings the total case count to 4,209 infections, 196 deaths and 431 past and present hospitalizations.
ACHD Director Dr. Debra Bogen issued a new order Wednesday extending previous prohibitionsng on indoor dining and alcohol consumption in bars and restaurants. Take- out and outdoor dine-in services are permitted, however, provided establishments follow state guidelines that restrict occupancy limits and require face masks, among others. The new order, which goes into effect on July 10 and expires July 24, also limits gatherings to 25 people inside and 50 outdoors, except for religious assemblies held in places of worship.
“I am truly sorry for those whose income and livelihood are impacted by these measures,” Bogen said Tuesday, discussing the order to come.
Bars and restaurants remain a reopening challenge, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said Tuesday.
Of the 347 patients last week who indicated they had attended a mass gathering, Bogen said 117 said they had visited at least one bar and 50 said they’d patronized a restaurant.
The county hasn’t identified specific places yet, but in response to a media question, Bogen said she thought it was a good idea to flag and post establishments that do not enforce social distancing and mask requirements, similarly to the way restaurants are inspected.
During the press conference, Bogen also announced:
- The county trained 60 more people for the county’s medical reserve corps to conduct contact tracing.
- Lagging COVID test results, she said, are related, in part, to commercial labs being overwhelmed and certain sites running out of test kits.
- If the rise in cases follows the county’s trajectory in spring, Bogen said, it could take a month for cases to peak with the current surge and another month for the number of infections to come down. She also said she expected the number of fatalities to rise, but “would love to be proven wrong.”
A social distancing sign set up during the COVID-19 shutdown near food and school work distribution tables at Westwood K-5 in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Jay Manning/PublicSource)
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