Allegheny County officials said Wednesday they are pleased with the covid-19 case levels at the moment.
“Optimistically, while we’ve seen the numbers stabilize or are maybe a little bit up,” said County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, “with all the activities that are occurring, I think we’re very pleased at where the numbers are right now for mid-September.”
The county had been bracing for a spike in cases as schools and universities reopen for in-person instruction. Health Director Debra Bogen said positivity rate of covid-19 tests has increased somewhat, but overall, the number of cases has only seen a “modest increase.”
The percent positivity now sits between 7 and 9%, and in the past week, the county has tested a little under 1,000 people per day.
“These numbers really reflect the hard work of all of our schools and universities in planning a safe return to learning,” Bogen said. “I’m very pleased with those numbers.”
Bogen said about 20% of the new cases since the beginning of September have been connected to colleges and universities — many of which are tracking infections on campus independently. About 2% were connected to K-12 students attending some form of in-person class.
The officials said the stable case numbers are the result of cooperation among residents and businesses to follow public health orders.
“All of these activities, as we see, can be done safely if they’re done properly,” Fitzgerald said. “They’re challenging, but we know that if people cooperate, then these things can happen.”
Their words of confidence come just days after the statewide health orders from early in the pandemic were ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. Bogen said officials are reviewing the decision, but countywide orders remain in place.
“Our experience with covid-19 in Allegheny County strongly suggests that mitigation efforts and strategies we put in place are effective,” she said. “We’ve twice seen these strategies combat surges and keep case numbers at manageable levels. And now we’ve had about a month of relatively stable case numbers, despite students returning to schools, universities and colleges around the county. Our experience here has been quite different from other areas of the country.”
When it comes to Halloween and trick-or-treating next month, she recommended that parents incorporate face coverings into their child’s costume, avoid large crowds and use hand sanitizer between homes.
The good news, she said, is that trick-or-treating tends to be outside, which reduces the spread of the virus.
