HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP / KDKA) – Pennsylvania health officials are closely watching areas where rates of COVID-19 infection and deaths are increasing, threatening to reverse progress against the pandemic, the secretary said Friday. state health.
“We are making a deep appointment among all the counties that have had increases,” said Dr. Rachel Levine, warning that a “community spread” is taking place in some parts of the state.
The increase may be attributable to the gradual reopening that has been underway in Pennsylvania, as well as more extensive testing, Levine said.
Cases are on the rise in Allegheny County, which reported 61 new confirmed infections Friday, its second-highest total.
“It makes me nervous because I thought things were getting better,” said Sheena Nolan, who buys at Crafton.
“I think we did it too fast,” said Janet Spells, who lives in Garfield. “It is good to know that we are arriving, and now that we are up, check this out.”
“That is very scary because now it makes me think ‘okay, so will we be in this until December?’ How long is this going to last? Said Stephen Solomon.
The Allegheny County Health Department says that in the past week, there were 244 new cases reported “overwhelmingly” among younger people and about travel, visiting bars and restaurants.
However, the county health department says they did not identify any groups between travel or activity destinations, and that they cannot know exactly when someone contracted the virus.
The new cases ranged in age from 4 months to 97 years with an average age of 31 years. Two thirds of the new cases corresponded to people between 19 and 49 years old.
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– Allegheny County Health Department (@HealthAllegheny) June 26, 2020
Myrtle Beach, Houston, Nashville, Miami, Tampa, and Naples “appeared multiple times” during case investigations.
The new cases also told the health department that they had been to bars and restaurants across the county. There were fifteen different bars and restaurants that these new coronavirus patients had visited or worked with. Five were reported multiple times.
“People are opening too fast. As if they were thinking, ‘OK, life can go back to normal,’ but it really can’t yet, ”said Solomon.
Nearly a dozen restaurants from all corners of the county closed their doors the last week after one or more employees tested positive for COVID-19.
A small number of new cases said they had gone to church, family gatherings, children’s activities, or protests.
Two-thirds of this week’s new cases are between the ages of 19 and 49.
“The first thing I think about is people who don’t wear masks. You see him everywhere, even just walking my dog I see him. And wearing a mask is just mutual respect between us, “said Solomon.
People who spoke to Nicole Ford of KDKA, like Solomon, said wearing a mask should be a priority for people who are targeting the community.
“She is 1 years old, so she cannot wear a mask, so it is scary to see other people walking around without a mask,” Nolan said of his one-year-old daughter.
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