Allegheny County health officials said Wednesday that they continue to be pleased with local covid-19 case numbers.

“We have continued to see relatively low numbers compared to maybe what we expected as we entered September,” said County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.

The county has confirmed 1,152 cases in September so far, according to data from the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center — compared to nearly 5,000 in the month of July. The declining rate of infection comes despite the return of students to schools and universities in the area.

“For a major college town with 85,000 college students, compared to other places in the country, we’ve seen very, very low numbers,” Fitzgerald said.

Health Director Debra Bogen said there hasn’t been a significant number of cases reported from colleges and universities. Most newly infected individuals have reported going to funerals, weddings, parties and restaurants, she said.

There is one trend Bogen said was “concerning” despite the lowering case numbers: the number of residents being tested is declining. The number of tests administered each day in the county was often well over 2,000 during the summer, and hovered around 1,500 throughout August. In the last week, according to county data, the average number of people tested per day fell below 1,000. There were multiple days last week in which there were fewer than 300 tests administered.

“I’m concerned that people who may have symptoms are not getting tested,” Bogen said. “This is really how we keep our community safe.”

Despite the overall encouraging outlook officials shared Wednesday, they asked county residents to stay vigilant and continue abiding by public health orders.

“I wish I could say that we are nearing the end,” Bogen said. “We are six months in and it’s likely we have at least that much more to go.”

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