Fitzgerald not surprised local area remains red
By KRISTIE LINDEN
klinden@yourmvi.com
After Gov. Tom Wolf’s announcement Friday that no southwestern Pennsylvania counties would be part of the group moving into the less restrictive yellow category on May 8, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said he didn’t expect to be part of the initial wave of reopenings.
“While we have done extremely well, we also recognize that the counties which will be moving to the yellow phase have better numbers. I’m also encouraged by the fact that the governor said that southwest Pennsylvania is close and hopeful that we will move to yellow in the next announcement,” Fitzgerald said. “We can’t do that unless we stay vigilant and continue to follow the guidance put forth by our health professionals.
“We will continue to work with our health care providers and systems to increase testing, maintain our contact tracing and case investigation, move promptly to address outbreaks and issues, and work closely with all of our residents and businesses to be certain that we are ready to move forward.”
On Friday, Wolf said he is eyeing southwestern Pennsylvania for the next round of reopenings, but that will depend on the number of new cases staying low, as they have been lately, and the infrastructure put in place to increase testing and necessary resources for contact tracing of those who are infected.
Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said one of the issues, aside from the number of new cases, that impacts when a county moves from red to yellow is population density, and Allegheny County has several high-density areas including Pittsburgh.
“I know that residents and businesses would have liked to have seen us included in (Friday’s) announcement,” Fitzgerald said. “I will continue to talk and work with the governor and his administration and advocate for the opening of additional businesses that are following CDC guidance in their operations. And I encourage those businesses to take this opportunity to figure out what this new normal looks like for them and what changes they may need to put in place to ensure the safety of their employees and customers.
“Thank you for doing all of the things that we have been asked to do, but we need to continue doing those things until there is a treatment or a vaccine for this virus. It remains my hope that we will get the OK to move forward and when we do, we will be ready. As I’ve said all along, this is a marathon, not a sprint.”
The 24 counties that will move to yellow on Friday will have many businesses that reopen, but retailers will have to enact social distancing measures. Others, such as movie theaters, gyms and restaurants, will remain closed.
Wolf said there isn’t a schedule for how often counties will be added to the yellow category.
There have now been 49,267 cases of coronavirus in the state, including 2,296 new positive tests since Friday. There have been 90 new deaths due to the virus for a total of 2,444 fatalities.
Allegheny County now has 1,345 cases, an increase of 26 patients. There were three new deaths reported for a new total of 102.
In Fayette County, there were two new cases for a total of 83. There have been four deaths.
Washington County added three new cases for a total of 119 patients, and the county has reported no new deaths. There have been two fatalities.
Westmoreland County added eight new cases for a total of 401 and, according to the DOH, there was one additional death since Friday, for a total of 26. Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha reports no additional deaths, and the total he is tracking remains at 30.
