Allegheny County may amend restaurant restrictions

Allegheny County Health Director Debra Bogen said she plans to revisit a ban of on-site service at restaurants as soon as Wednesday.

At a Tuesday press briefing, Bogen said officials were reconsidering the order, and may update it in some way before it expires Thursday.

“I’m considering modifying the event limits and restrictions for outdoor food and beverage service at restaurants,” Bogen said. “I leave this open to change depending on our cases and the other metrics we consider in making these decisions.”

Gov. Tom Wolf is also making an announcement on Wednesday regarding restaurants and dining options in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Positive cases of the coronavirus have increased “precipitously” in the last two weeks, said County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, with Tuesday’s daily case count surpassing 200 for the third time.

“We had weeks in which we didn’t have 200 cases, and now we’re having them in a single day,” said Fitzgerald. “That requires action.”

Bogen said that while the region’s hospitals and ICU beds are “more than adequate” at this time, hospitalizations are also steadily climbing, and the health officials are monitoring closely.

The percentage of covid-19 tests coming back positive has also increased. Two weeks ago, Bogen said only 2-3% of tests were returning with positive results. In the last two weeks, the percentage has raised to 8-10%, which exceeds the state’s overall percentage.

Bogen and Fitzgerald said the restrictions that have been placed within the county in the last several days were carefully considered based on the results of case investigations.

The county last week also halted alcohol service at bars and restaurants and closed casinos.

Among the new cases investigated last week, 117 infected individuals said they had visited at least one bar, and 50 said they’d visited at least one restaurant. These numbers pale in comparison to the 36 individuals who attended a private party, 17 who shopped in a retail store and 13 who went to a public gym, Bogen said.

“None of the other reported activities compare in magnitude to the number of times cases have reported going to bars and restaurants,” Bogen said.

Fitzgerald added that the county did not want to “punish or mitigate” other businesses like gyms, construction and other industries, that “have proven to be able to operate in a way in which the case level is low.”

When asked if the county could move back a phase in Gov. Tom Wolf’s reopening plan, Fitzgerald said he was unsure. More likely, he said, the county will continue to look at specific areas and industries that appear to be posing a higher risk – based all decisions on data from contact tracing. County officials want to avoid a “one-size-fits-all policy,” he said.

“I know any time a decision is made, there’s going to be people that disagree and want to blame certain folks,” he said. “But I can tell you that these decisions are not made lightly and they’re done really with the public interest in mind.”