Mayor Peduto bans gatherings of 250 or more in city; Allegheny County encourages same
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto declared a state of emergency in the city Friday evening and prohibited all public gatherings of more than 250 people.
The ban on gatherings goes into effect at 9 a.m. Monday and is subject to City Council ratification. The emergency declaration is in effect for seven days, and council can choose to extend it.
“As the coronavirus has spread throughout the world, we have learned one great lesson: that by taking decisive action early on, we can slow the spread of the disease and save untold numbers of lives,” Peduto said. “I am making this announcement now so our residents can further plan for the impacts covid-19 will have on them and their families, most likely for weeks to come.”
Peduto’s action came as the state Department of Health announced a presumed positive case of the novel coronavirus in Washington County, the first case in Western Pennsylvania. Gov. Tom Wolf closed all Pennsylvania schools earlier in the day.
The total number of cases in the state has grown to 41. Six of the cases have been confirmed by the CDC and 35 are presumptive positive. Peduto said he was advised by health experts while in Washington earlier this week that the numbers are likely much higher.
“What was explained to us is that we ought to recognize that there are 10s of thousands of cases within any (metropolitan area) in America,” he said. “We aren’t getting an accurate count at this time. We operate under the assumption of what medical experts are saying, which is that this virus is following the same trends that it did in Europe.”
The city is working with UPMC and the Allegheny Health Network on increasing testing capacity, hospital beds and support for public safety personnel, according to Dan Gilman, Peduto’s chief of staff. He said the city hopes to announce additional details within days.
Starting Monday, city employees will be permitted to work from home. They are also permitted to bring their children to work and the city will provide free childcare at the City-County Building and the Robin Civic Building, both Downtown, through a nonprofit organization.
“We are also currently working literally as we speak with the school district, nonprofit partners and our Department of Parks and Recreation to make sure that young people who are out of school are still getting the meals they need and safety during the day while parents are working,” Gilman said. “We will have more updates on that earlier next week.”
The Allegheny County Health Department updated its guidance and recommendations concerning covid-19 to include encouraging residents and organizations to suspend gatherings, events and conferences of 250 people or more and to avoid going to gyms, movie theaters and shopping malls.
Gilman said public safety personnel will enforce the ban within the city. He said state law and the city’s Home Rule Charter gives Peduto authority to enact the ban under an emergency declaration.
“We have the authority to shut the events down,” he said. “That is our key. We’re not looking to cause harm to additional business, but for public safety we will shut down events.”
County health officials are also encouraging religious leaders to use discretion to help stop the spread of the illness but did not outline specific steps.
The recommendations are in place for 14 days.
Additional steps include:
- Banning all government-affiliated meetings larger than 50 people.
- Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority extended a moratorium on water shut-offs through May 31.
- The Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority is offering low-interest loans to small businesses impacted by the virus.
- The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh suspended all evictions at housing complexes with the exception of emergency situations.
- Columbia Gas, Duquesne Light and Peoples Gas have suspended service shut-offs until at least May 1.
- The city is suspending all court cases involving ordinance violations.
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