Allegheny County health officials lifted the county-ordered covid-19 restrictions Thursday, allowing the state’s looser restrictions on outdoor gatherings to take effect immediately.
County orders had limited indoor gatherings to 25 people and outdoor crowds to no more than 100 people. The state has limited indoor gatherings to 25 people and outdoor crowds to 250.
Allegheny County Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said in a statement that state Department of Health orders will be the county standard, but some of those state restrictions remain null for the time being after a federal judge ruled some tenets unconstitutional.
“We were able to get to this point because people are wearing their masks and being diligent,” Bogen said. “The lifting of these orders doesn’t change the importance of still wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, washing our hands frequently, and all of the other mitigation measures that have been impactful in the county.”
The state orders dictate that alcohol sales must coincide with food purchases, and no bar services is permitted — both of which were part of the county’s now-lifted order. Under state orders, alcohol sales are required to end at 11 p.m. Alcoholic beverages must be removed from customers by midnight.
On Monday, the state allowed restaurants to increase their indoor dining capacity to 50%.
Allegheny County’s more restrictive orders went into effect in July after a surge in covid-19 cases, with a stretch of more than 300 new cases each day.
Bogen said the decision to lift the county order stems from case counts continuing “to remain relatively low.”
“Throughout the pandemic, the department has used the most up-to-date information to make decisions to control the spread of the virus in our community,” she said. “Those efforts have been effective. While we are lifting the more restrictive orders today, we hope that residents will continue to follow guidance in place to protect themselves, their friends and their families.”
Allegheny County on Thursday reported 60 new coronavirus cases for a total of 11,927 since March. Of the new cases, 54 are confirmed and four are listed as probable. The seven-day average for cases in the county is 60.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, a Pittsburgh-based infectious disease and critical care physician, said local data on covid transmission has been encouraging over the past few weeks.
“I think the county made the correct decision to lift restrictions on outdoor gatherings,” Adalja said Thursday. “However, it is important to remember that we will see some increase in cases, inevitably as people increasingly socially interact.
“We must remain vigilant and continue to follow commonsense precautions to keep cases to a manageable level. It’s also important that we continue to aggressively contact trace cases, and it’s critical that the population is helpful in that endeavor.”
