Allegheny County officials consider easing coronavirus restrictions

Weeks after Allegheny County and then the state Department of Health re-implemented restrictions on bars, indoor dining and gatherings, county health officials on Wednesday said those efforts are working and there are signs the virus is relenting.

Dr. Debra Bogen, director of the Allegheny County Health Department, said she is willing to consider easing the tight limit on outdoor gatherings, which right now is 50 people. That’s far from the state-imposed outdoor limit of 250.

When a decision is made, Bogen said – she did not give a timetable for reaching one – it will not match the state’s 250 limit. She said the goal will be to peel back restrictions slowly, “so we can watch how the virus responds.”

She and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald pointed to the weeks after the county moved from the yellow phase to green phase of the state’s tiered reopening plan. It took about three weeks after the harshest restrictions were lifted for covid-19 cases to surge across the county, reaching above 300 new cases a day for several days.

On Wednesday, there were 14 newly reported cases.

“It has taken this county two months to get here,” Fitzgerald said, noting that lessons learned over that time shows how quickly cases can spiral and how long it can take to rein them in.

Bogen said officials will remain particularly vigilant despite the falling positivity rate as more and more college students return to large college campuses across the city, like Pitt, Duquesne and Point Park.

She said it will take at least three weeks to see the impact of the influx of students on case counts.

Eight Pitt students were placed what is called interim persona non grata status on Wednesday, meaning they are restricted from campus and university facilities. The suspensions stem from apparent flouting of the university’s rules meant to mitigate the spread of the virus on campus.