Fayette County closes courthouse in response to growing number of coronavirus cases

Fayette County government and court officials halted general operations at the courthouse and surrounding facilities in Uniontown in response to growing numbers of staffers who have tested positive for coronavirus.

Commissioners Wednesday instituted a two-week closure and required most county employees to work from home while limiting court operations.

Commissioner David Lohr said some workers will be permitted to work on site but the public will be barred from the courthouse and other county buildings to guard against a potential outbreak among staff.

“We just want to make sure we can find the coronavirus and keep it from spreading,” Lohr said.

He said five cases of coronavirus were reported last week involving staff and inmates at the county jail, which is connected to the courthouse by a walkway. Fayette County Solicitor Jack Purcell said as of Wednesday afternnon there have been 11 confirmed cases of coronavirus at the courthouse and jail with results from another 11 tests still pending.

So far none of the employees who work at nearby county facilities in Uniontown that house child services, 911 operations and the elections department have tested positive, Lohr said.

Lohr said commissioners and the county judges determined the safest course of action was to close the county buildings to the public and have them thoroughly cleaned while they wait to determine if additional staffers were infected. The county has about 635 government employees, Lohr said.

A court order signed Tuesday by President Judge John Wagner declared a judicial emergency suspending speedy trial rights and limiting court activity to emergency proceedings at the discretion of individual judges while calling for more routine matters to be conducted remotely.

Lawyers will be permitted to enter the courthouse to file documents and courtrooms will be limited to participants in previously scheduled proceedings.

The state’s Department of Health reported Wednesday there have been 352 positive cases of coronavirus in Fayette County since the onset of the pandemic in March. The state reported that 37 new cases in the county were identified since Monday.

County officials in mid-May reopened the courthouse and courts after an initial shutdown following the governor’s stay-at-home order two months earlier.

Government offices are slated to reopen to the public Aug. 13.

“We will revisit it over the next week and will evaluate and, hopefully, we will be open again in two weeks,” Lohr said.