Allegheny County Officials: Number Of New Coronavirus Cases Going To Bars, Restaurants Drops By Half
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Allegheny County leaders say they're pleased with the drop in coronavirus infections, but they say we still have to remain vigilant.
There are no plans to reduce restrictions in the county yet, especially with schools opening.
After hitting some big bumps in the road, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald says we've risen to the occasion and brought the infection rate down again. But this isn't a return to the green phase -- not just yet.
Health Director Dr. Bogen says coronavirus patients who reported going out is down, which she hopes means the message of staying home is "sticking with people."
"The number of new cases reporting going to or working at bars and restaurants has dropped by half. Parties have dropped a little bit and it's now about even with bars and restaurants," Dr. Debra Bogen says.
The county also released data collected during case investigations. From July 19 to July 25, 60 out of 944 cases reported being customers or employees at bars or restaurants. That's down compared to 127 from the previous week, which consisted of 1,128 cases total.
There were 61 cases who reported going to parties the week of July 19 to July 25.
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Meanwhile, the county's experts are concerned about how reopening schools will affect the curve.
Dr. Bogen says she's leaving it up to individual districts to decide whether to reopen. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald is concerned about college kids.
"We're entering another phase that's going to be very challenging for all of us, and that's the opening of schools -- schools at the K-12 level, as well as the university level," he says.
"In fact, our universities are starting to come back now. We see some of the students that are beginning to come back to the dormitories and the student housing, and this is where we really need our students to step up."
Dr. Bogen declined to say if she believes it's a good idea to resume high school sports, but she did say they worry her and it will be challenging.
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