Allegheny County's covid-19 investigators find most restaurants complying with guidelines

In its first week, Allegheny County’s new Covid Field Response Team visited around 350 establishments, Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said in a news conference Wednesday.

Of the businesses visited – which included bars, restaurants, convenience stores and others – 87% received a satisfactory report, while 13% had at least one issue to address.

“Team members have reported back that the vast majority of bars and restaurants, big and small, are doing a great job following safety measures,” Bogen said.

County officials announced the new team at last week’s news briefing. The team visits the businesses in the community, checks their covid-19 response tactics and provides feedback – evaluating how well they follow mandated capacity restrictions, mask and social distance requirements and other guidelines.

The most commonly reported issue was staff not wearing face coverings, followed by too many people being allowed indoors, Bogen said.

Establishments that were marked as having at least one item to address will have another visit from the team and will have an opportunity to improve their report. The department doesn’t know yet when those follow-up visits will occur.

This week, Bogen and County Executive Rich Fitzgerald updated residents on rising hospitalizations and case counts.

“July has been a very challenging month,” Fitzgerald said, saying the month saw close to 5,000 positive tests. “It just goes to show some of the things that happened when we went into the green in early June. Things opened up maybe a little too quickly.”

Fitzgerald said county health initiatives in the last month, including restrictions for bars and restaurants, have helped bring case totals back down.

The county reported 10 new hospitalizations Wednesday and 77 in the last week. The rise in hospitalizations had long been predicted amid the overall spike in daily cases, but Bogen said the numbers actually reflect admission dates throughout the last couple of weeks.

Bogen also assured listeners that the county’s hospitals have the capacity to handle the increase and provide additional ICU bed space, unlike some other regions in the hospital like Texas, Florida and California.

“Our hospitals are prepared for it,” she said. “We are not in that situation here.”

While the initial spike was once largely attributed to bars and restaurants, Bogen said the county is tracing an increasing number of infections to private parties, weddings, funerals and religious services, as well as gyms and fitness centers. Bars and restaurants are still the most common locations that infected individuals report, Bogen said.

For example, according to health department data, there were 57 cases linked to parties between July 5 and July 11 and 72 linked to parties between July 12 and July 18. Cases linked to bars and restaurants decreased slightly, from 162 cases between July 5 and 11 and 127 between July 12 and 18.

“The data we collect through case investigation tells us where people who have tested positive have gone, but doesn’t tell us where people were infected with the virus,” Bogen said.

She encouraged people to take precautions wherever they go.

Fitzgerald encouraged continual vigilance as schools prepare their reopening plans and the economy reopens. The Field Response Team’s findings are encouraging, so far, he said.

“It seems like the cooperation level is very good,” Fitzgerald said of the bars and restaurants. “That’s what so important if we’re going to keep our economy and keep as many activities open as we can.”

Click here to view information on businesses visited so far.