Western Pa. officials, businesses brace for possible covid restrictions

Western Pennsylvania officials and businesses expect an announcement from the state soon, detailing new pandemic restrictions for businesses and gatherings.

“I think we’re moving in that direction,” Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said Tuesday. “The numbers indicate that’s the proper strategy to employ. … I do anticipate, if not tomorrow then the next day, there will be some kind of an announcement.”

A spokeswoman for Gov. Tom Wolf’s office said Wednesday morning, however, there is no announcement scheduled regarding new restrictions; the Department of Health likewise said there would be no press briefing Wednesday.

But Fitzgerald anticipates potential restrictions on gatherings or capacity — be it in restaurants, businesses or schools.

“A lot of this, unfortunately, occurs outside of official business, government, school,” he said. “It happens in homes, it happens in backyards, informal settings.”

Allegheny County on Tuesday reported 693 new covid-19 infections and six deaths, and in recent weeks has sometimes reported daily totals of more than 1,000. As of last week, 40% of the county’s total cases — nearly 30,000 — occurred in November. The rapidly increasing rate of infection is surprising, Fitzgerald said, after the region got through September and the back-to-school season “relatively in good shape.”

“Maybe, collectively, we got too relaxed, too complacent,” he said. “It’s a challenge. People have just really got to be very vigilant.”

Fitzgerald expects any new state restrictions to align with plans in Allegheny County. State Health Secretary Rachel Levine and Allegheny County Health Director Debra Bogen are in frequent communication, he said.

For local businesses, the possibility of another looming shutdown is daunting.

Kerri Fitzpatrick, a manager at Sam’s Tavern in the Wall in Aspinwall, said she had heard rumors of another potential restaurant shutdown. Some restaurants are trying to prepare in case there is another closure, but it’s hard to anticipate, she said.

“It’s just a tough situation at this point in time. We just have to get our ducks in a row and get all of our food frozen and make sure our employees are ready to sign up for their unemployment,” she said. “Especially around the holiday time, this is a horrible time to get another shutdown.”

Big Burrito Restaurant Group president Bill Fuller said he has heard restrictions will be similar to those in Philadelphia — with gyms and movie theaters shut down and no indoor dining allowed. Big Burrito owns Kaya, Soba, Umi, Casbah, Alta Via and Eleven restaurants, along with the Mad Mex chain.

Fuller said he plans to keep all his establishments open. His staff has adjusted through the pandemic, he said, and he wants to keep as many people employed as possible.

At Park Bruges in Highland Park, manager Jodie Rupp said she’s hopeful a supportive community would help rally behind the restaurant’s takeout business if in-person dining is banned.

“When it first happened in March, we attempted take-out, but we didn’t really have a good system in place, so we closed for a few months to get that situated,” she explained. “I feel like this time around, if it goes back to no in-person dining, we’ll stick it out with our takeout model.”

Even with a good takeout business, she said, another closure would be a hard hit for an industry that has been severely impacted by the pandemic.

“It’s already taken us down about 50% from last year,” Rupp said. “Our staff is down as well. I think the overhead is doable, but we’ll just have to take it week-to-week.”